Welcome Distraction
by Yogo
Summary: A newly discovered power source puts Rodney in dire straits with his past while John competes with other team mates for the attention of the newest arrival, Dr Chase. Will they be able to focus on the dangers of the device and not her dashing derriere?
1. Active Activities

Welcome Distraction – Chapter 1

Active Activities.

'This is ridiculous! Unless you're looking for everyone to die a horrible and painful death, which given the suggestion that you just made, seems like a real possibility!' Rodney snapped, his arms folded in complete defiance.

'It is not ridiculous, and the chance of the device exploding is minimal – ' Zalenka reasoned.

'Minimal or no, that's not a chance we can take because if it were to over load, it wouldn't be the tiny puff of smoke you're making it out to be, it would be Hiroshima huge – except we'd call it the "Zalenka" for its massive destructive capability.' Rodney growled.

'I never said that it wouldn't be dangerous, Rodney, because the risks are very real-' Zalenka replied angrily.

'Oh! And that gives us every reason to do it, mh?' Rodney asked, his eyes wide with fury, pinning Zalenka like a moth to a wall.

'The benefits could be extremely rich…' The Czech insisted.

'There's no point in looking for the benefits if we get blown to kingdom come first.' Rodney said incredulously.

'We can set up safety measures to minimalise the possibility of an over load, you know that it is possible – 'Zalenka said wearily.

'Safety measures along the lines of an underground shelter as well as years of supplies to survive in order to avoid the massive levels of radiation when it all goes horribly wrong-?' Rodney chimed nastily; Zalenka threw his hands in the air.

'Well, if I could just finish a sentence to at least - !'

'No! There will be no finishing of sentences to persuade anyone that this is a good idea because it is not a good idea! A good idea involves a pulse, a colourful cocktail and a busty blonde waitress.' Rodney said loudly, turning to Elizabeth whose head was looking to the ground. 'Am I right?' He said arrogantly, as if there could only be one answer. Elizabeth looked up at them now that their attention was focused on her and not their rage. Her green eyes flashed with a humour, masking her true thoughts.

'Well, I don't know about the waitress, but I would certainly like to keep my pulse.' She answered.

'Thank you.' Rodney turned to Zalenka with a stern look of stupidity.

'Although – ' She began.

'Although what?' Rodney asked swiftly.

'The benefits of this experiment could very well outweigh the risks, and I am intrigued.' She raised her eyebrows at Zalenka, who gave Rodney a grin of triumph.

'What happened to the liking of having a pulse?' Rodney asked irritatedly.

'I can't have a pulse and reap the benefits of the experiment?' She asked confidently.

'No.' Rodney squeaked petulantly.

'Yes.' Zalenka countered. 'I believe that the possibility of the device having a containment failure is very very small, it is more likely that we will not gain anything at all from experimenting with it-'

'In which case, not only could it be enormously dangerous, it would be a massive waste of time.' Rodney insisted firmly.

'Where's the adventurous McKay I know? The McKay whose thirst for scientific knowledge usually gets him into trouble?' Elizabeth asked.

'He's learnt from his mistakes and has decided to ignore the possible scientific advancements when capture, torture and death are a possibility – and in this case, death is a very real possibility!' McKay said firmly, arms folded.

Elizabeth paused and watched the two, Zalenka muttering under his breath in Czech and Rodney staring at her with a look of rebellious arrogance. It was a big thing with even bigger risks… but she had to admit that the benefits could be extremely helpful in their fight against the Wraith. _Anything to give us a hand… _She looked at Rodney one last time and knew that he would complain throughout the entire thing, she thought it odd that he wasn't on board with this. Usually he couldn't wait to get his hands on a massive power source, no matter the risk – a mistake he had made a year ago that almost cost him the lives of his team mates. But this device was different – apparently. Although it could power Atlantis for a fair amount of time, even to the point where it could fly into space, it was no where near the spectacular power source they had discovered last time, for which she was actually grateful. This device seemed more…manageable. _If it's possible, we need to try._

'Radik, what safety measures can be taken?' She asked. Rodney groaned.

'I can't believe you're gonna go along with this!' He said angrily.

'Well, Rodney, this seems like a wonderful opportunity, an opportunity in which I want every safety measure that can be employed _to be_ employed.' She said firmly. Radik nodded.

'Absolutely. I think we should have an off world base where the research and experiments are carried out, just in case. The radiation levels can get high, but no more than the suits can handle, and that will be much later on in the research…' He assured her.

'Oh yes! Radiation is safe! Let's all go and play in the chromospheres of the Sun!' Rodney exclaimed.

'Anything that has Rodney high-pitched has me concerned.' Said a voice behind them. John wandered into the office with his hands in his pockets, giving his team mates a frown. 'And if he gets any higher, we'll get bombarded by flea-ridden space dogs.' Rodney marched to Sheppard's side.

'Tell them how bad radiation is.' Rodney demanded.

'It's bad.' John nodded.

'Now tell them how bad death is.'

'That's also pretty bad.' John agreed.

'Thank you! Finally, a sane person!' Rodney threw his hands up in the air, praising Sheppard for his timing. 'Okay, so he doesn't have the expertise or mental capacity to understand anything even remotely related to this device – but! He's good enough, given his past experience with many other…bad things.'

'Gee, thanks Rodney.' Sheppard eyed him before giving Elizabeth a tired look. 'What did I miss?'

'Crazy people thinking they can do crazy things, the usual.' Rodney offered nastily, glaring at Zalenka.

'Rodney, I am giving this project the green light and I want you to be on board. They'll need your expertise and I know that I would feel a lot safer if you were keeping an eye on things.' Elizabeth insisted. Rodney's ego was her best bet when wanting him to do something; she had played that card many times before. Rodney narrowed his eyes at her and moved away from Sheppard, walking to Weir and pointing at her.

'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! You are not going to use flattery with sugar coated compliments to get me to think that this is a good idea.' He smiled triumphantly having sussed her game. _I am not that easy, no siree!_

'Rodney, I was never for one moment trying to get you to think that it was a good idea, I am however firmly insisting that you do it anyway.' It was Elizabeth's turn to narrow her eyes. Rodney slumped.

'Fine.' He said petulantly. 'I'll go and set the thing up and do the little thingies that need to be done, and I'll smile and laugh about other spectacular things – but if that thing blows up in my face, then I won't be around to say it, so I'm going to say it now.' He turned on his heel and stormed to the door before spinning and facing the rest of the room, announcing dramatically, 'I told you so.' He paused, his confident tone changing to one of slight terror. 'However, if I do die, make sure they don't give me a wake, I hate the thought that people would be looking at my corpse when I had absolutely no input on how I'd be dressed.'

'Don't worry Rodney.' John grinned at him. 'If you explode, there won't be enough left of you to have a wake.' He nodded.

Rodney gave him a look of disbelief and forced a half smile. 'Funny.' He stalked off.

'Hilarious.' Elizabeth nodded at Zalenka who nodded in return and followed Rodney to his lab.

John perched on Weirs desk while Elizabeth took a seat and sighed.

'So…' John began. 'Rodney doesn't seem too keen about the whole power source thing – which is kinda weird because I thought he would have been psyched about it.'

Elizabeth nodded. 'Maybe he doubts he can do it, and then maybe it's his admirable survival instinct taking over the reigns.'

John nodded at her wicked smile and stood. 'The newbies coming this afternoon?'

Elizabeth picked up the Ancient Pad sitting in front of her and glanced at John, nodding. 'Rotation. They arrive, and a chunk of our personnel go home for a month or so.' She paused, putting the Pad on the desk again. 'We've had to replenish our numbers time and time again because of the incidents over the last couple of years. I can't help but feel that we're bringing in more people who will eventually be replaced.' A guilty look plagued over her face. John nodded. _Like she's to blame. It's not her fault, none of it. Although on more than one occasion, it's been my fault._

'They know what they're signing up for, and they still come. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want the chance to explore an Ancient city in a whole other galaxy?' He asked, eyebrows raised as if it were the coolest thing in the world.

Elizabeth nodded. 'Good point.' She picked up the Pad once more.

John lingered. 'So is there anyone interesting coming to stay…? You know, become a permanent addition to the expedition?'

Elizabeth didn't look up at him. 'The department heads chose their new members – you saw the final list.'

'Well, yeah, I saw a bunch of scientists and Doctors, and the military personnel that I chose but, they're just names, I didn't have all the juicy details.' He grinned at her. Elizabeth smiled at him.

'Well, there are one or two additions that were not chosen by the Department heads. Apparently the DOA and even the President insisted on making suggestions.' Elizabeth gave him a stern look. The DOA – or "the money" – had been nothing more than a pain in the butt since the moment they arrived in the Pegasus galaxy. John was sure that anyone they had a hand in transferring over here was sure to be bad news.

He frowned. 'How many?' _Not liking this at all._

'Three.'

'Mh. That's not too bad, I guess if they get overly annoying we could just leave them on a nice empty planet somewhere…far, far away.' He suggested, half serious. Elizabeth grinned mischievously.

'As nice a thought as that is, it seems their records speak for themselves.' She explained. John rolled his eyes.

'Geniuses?' He asked. _Oh god, like we need more…_

'Oh yes.' Elizabeth grabbed the Pad.

'Rodney'll be thrilled.' John said firmly.

'That would be why I haven't told him yet.' Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, indicating that he was to stay quiet too. John nodded. 'I don't think he can handle the competition.'

'Alright. I'm gonna find Chef and explain the intricacies of food poisoning so he knows what to avoid.' John smiled and wandered out, Elizabeth watching him go before turning her attention to the Ancient Pad.

John knew before he even walked into the lunch hall that it would be busy, with various Lantean personnel wandering and eating. He spotted the tall dread locked hair above the sea of people and made a path. He could see Teyla sitting in front of Ronan, the two of them talking deeply. Or at least Teyla was talking deeply while Ronan gave one word answers.

'…it is not always as simple as that, as much as I would like it to be.' Teyla responded, giving Ronan an unimpressed look. Ronan stared back lazily.

'Sure it is.'

Teyla shook her head, her brown eyes searing him with frustration.

'You must use some level of morality, otherwise you are deemed nothing more than a killer.' Teyla argued.

'Killer's easier.' Ronan turned his attention back to the plate before him.

Teyla raised an eyebrow at him before spotting the Colonel and smiling at him as he slid into the chair next to her.

'Colonel,' She greeted. 'Ronan has just presented me with a scenario with which to rectify, and I am sorry to say that we seem to be at a stand still as to a decision.'

John raised his eyebrows. 'Scenario?' He looked at Ronan. The Satedan looked as though he wished he had never mentioned it.

'Woman grabs a man, puts a weapon to his head.' Ronan began.

'Except that the woman is desperate, obviously distressed.' Teyla added. 'What do you think should be done?'

John reached over to Ronan's plate, ready to steal a chip. The Satedan slapped his hand and raised an eyebrow at the Colonel menacingly.

'I believe that reason is needed to diffuse the situation – Ronan believes a bullet would do just as well.' She scowled at the Ronan who simply watched her, chewing.

'Easy. Reason with her first, if she doesn't comply, shoot the hostage.' John answered simply.

'Shoot the hostage?' Teyla said incredulously while Ronan laughed. _A tactless joke._

'Not to kill.' He said quickly. 'Just to wound.'

'Get rid of the thing stopping you from solving the problem.' Ronan nodded.

'Yeah, once the hostage is down and the crazy woman is stunned, you shoot her before she shoots you.' John smiled, and then seeing Teyla's venomous face added, 'And then you help the hostage to a Doctor.'

'I see.' Teyla said in a manner which suggested that she didn't. _That is not what I would have done._ John shrugged and Ronan grinned appreciatively. 'Where is Rodney? I did not think there would be anything that could keep him from a meal.'

'Mh, he just got the go ahead to try out the new power source we found.' John explained, eyeing the buffet across the way. 'He seemed pretty wound up about it.'

'It's a bad idea. Remember what happened the last time?' Ronan said darkly.

'Dr Zalenka believes that the device is far smaller and more controllable than the one found on the Ancient planet. Elizabeth appeared quite interested in its purpose.' Teyla informed them.

'Yeah, well, Zalenka's all for it and Rodney wants to avoid it like there's no tomorrow.' John explained to them. Teyla noticed the look of surprise.

'I would have thought Rodney insisted on experimenting with the device.' Teyla frowned.

'Maybe he's learnt his lesson from last time.' Ronan suggested.

'Destroying a solar system can do that to you.' John nodded. 'I don't know, he just seems worried.'

'He's always worried about something.' Ronan said firmly, as though the man was an annoyance even when he wasn't there.

A silence fell between them and Teyla noted the tension. Usually things were fine between them, but this device had brought them back to the memory of Rodney's earlier blunder that had costed them a scientist's life and nearly all of their own. He had allowed his arrogance and over confidence to get the better of him and he had paid the consequences. Although it didn't take all that long for him to get back on his feet after the incident, a year on and a similar situation had brought back the memories of their loss of faith in his abilities, and the trust he had to earn back from the entire city. Apparently, Rodney had not forgotten it either. Teyla frowned. Even so, Rodney had never lost his nerve since his mistake when it came to science, and this was supposed to be on a much smaller scale. _He is smart enough to know not to dwell in the past, I do not know why he cannot see that what is done is done and nothing can be changed. He can pay for it no longer, he has already suffered the mistrust of Atlantis_. She didn't understand why he was so against it, and she was certain that he would never tell them. Teyla looked up from her food and caught John's eye, knowing that he had been thinking the same thing. Ronan meanwhile had been finishing off his lunch. She sighed, the silence almost unbearable.

'I believe that the Daedalus is bringing new personnel this afternoon.' She stated. John leapt at the chance to fill the awkward gap.

'Yeah, apparently a few interesting choices too.' He nodded at Ronan.

Teyla rolled her eyes. That could only mean that John and Rodney had hired one or two people, not only for their expertise, but for their slender figures and pretty faces. Ronan grinned. And they all thought he was the animal…

'I mean, can you believe it? It's ridiculous! We are going to blow up and then I won't be around to hear – "Oh. Well I guess McKay was right, wasn't he?" Which is something I want to hear!' Rodney could be heard before he was seen, which was always the case. The group turned to see the scientist walk toward the hall with Carson by his side looking extremely annoyed. John grinned. Rodney was not exactly a people person. 'You'd think that after all my years of expertise that when I strongly disagree with something because I know it means death for all involved, that she would listen to me! But nooo – She listens to Zalenka because he gave her the answer she wanted – Hey!' Rodney spotted the team and John could have sworn that Ronan winced. 'Can you guys believe it? Isn't it insane?'

'How you doin' Carson?' John asked with a wide smile. The Scot glared at him.

'Oh, I'm fine, having a ball – I just love hearing Rodney go on and on about things I have no idea about.' He thrust his hands into his pockets moodily. Rodney gave him a side long glance.

'If you didn't want to listen to my pain Carson, you could've just said.' Rodney folded his arms sulkily.

Carson raised his eyebrows. 'Well if I had known that would work, I would have done it years ago!' He said angrily, as though truly kicking himself for all those lost hours listening to Rodney ranting…

'Oh that's nice! Very nice! Excuse me, who do you go to when you're feeling blue?' He asked pointedly.

'My Mother, Rodney, now if you don't mind, I'm going to get something to eat.' Carson gave him a firm look before heading toward the buffet. John saw this as his cue to do the same and followed.

Rodney, looking extremely agitated and depressed, sat by Ronan. The Satedan looked at him before returning to his food. Rodney had caught the look from the corner of his eye and his torso tensed.

'What?' He snapped. Ronan looked at him again and shrugged.

'Oh, I see, I'm in the wrong am I? Annoying everybody with my senseless complaints of certain death?' He stood from the table, Teyla watching him with an apprehensive expression. 'Does anybody remember that I am a brilliant scientist here? Mh? Does no one else seem to think that this is a bad idea?'

Ronan nodded. 'I do.'

'Well that's because you know I'm involved and you are convinced that I'm going to fail, which admittedly is very rare…' He paused looking to the floor, his eyes angry and uncertain. He continued more loudly so that people around them started to look at him. 'I suppose that great scientists can only make great mistakes, not tiny, miniscule ones that affect no one-'

'Rodney-' Teyla began, wanting to comfort him.

'Just remember that I said no, and that what happens from here on out, I am not responsible.' He stalked off looking extremely upset.

Teyla turned to Ronan with a glare. He looked back at her and seemed surprised. 'I didn't do anything.'

'You also did not correct him either.' Teyla criticised.

'I didn't disagree.' He stated, standing form the table and taking his plate.

'Ronan, Rodney has saved all of us, and this city on many occasions. He has proven himself-' She said sharply.

'If he's convinced he can't do it, he can't do it. It's a mistake to try.' Ronan interrupted, depositing his plate into a pile and leaving the hall with a brooding grace.

Teyla pushed her plate away from her as Sheppard and Carson sat down with their own laden with food.

'What on Earth was that about?' Carson asked, looking at the door that both Ronan and Rodney had left through.

Teyla smiled weakly. John watched her, and when she did not respond he looked at Carson and explained. 'He's feeling all miserable and abandoned because Weir ignored him and went with Radik's idea.'

Carson made a small 'Oh' and began eating. Teyla watched them for a moment with disbelief. How could they be so oblivious?

'Rodney is not upset that Elizabeth did not heed his warning, he is upset because he doubts abilities. This is too close to what happened lat year and he is shaken by it. But still, I feel there is more.' She explained. John took it in. Carson nodded.

'I've got to say, he hasn't really been the usual Rodney McKay for a few weeks now – or is it just me?' Carson leant forward.

'He's Rodney, there's nothing wrong with him.' Sheppard stated and tucked in to his food. Teyla glared at him.

'I have noticed a change also.' She said to Carson. The Scot nodded. 'He is not himself.'

John hadn't noticed any major changes; Rodney was full of issues, which was just part of who he was. _A genius who is also an attention seeking hypochondriac with a weird allergy to lemons – what more is there? _He didn't have time to ponder over it or his meal any further as his head set crackled.

'Colonel Sheppard, this is Weir. The Daedalus is making its final approach.' The voice informed him.

John swallowed 'Understood.' He rose from the table. 'Let's go and greet the fresh meat.' He grinned at them. Carson looked at him, mouth full of potato.

'They're here?' He asked. John nodded and he stood, putting the cutlery on his plate. Teyla nodded at him to lead the way, glaring at his back the whole time.

Whenever the Daedalus arrived back at the city with fresh supplies and fresh people, it touched down on the East Pier and did a ship wide diagnostic. This was the time that whoever in Atlantis was free would go meet and greet the new people as well as old friends of the Daedalus crew. It was mostly the military who shifted the supplies while the Scientists stood and watched. The Scientists and Colonel Sheppard. The three arrived just as the ramp of the Daedalus was lowered and people began pouring out. John couldn't blame them, two weeks on a ship wasn't his idea of fun, even if he did like flying. The Daedalus could hold her own, but she was nothing like a fighter Jet.

Elizabeth took to introducing herself to a few of them and then announced that they arrange themselves into their specific departments to be briefed by their heads. People began to form rough groups, and it was clear to see who was who. The tightly-packed group to the right was composed of the new military personnel, in uniform and all of them looking confident and ready. The scientists huddled together, most of them whispering into each others ear as the looked up at the city in awe. The third group was considerably smaller and were what John guessed to be the new Doctors, all with kindly faces. Elizabeth did a quick head count of the new personnel, the permanent residents of Atlantis, and frowned.

'I seem to be missing a few.' She called. A Lieutenant from the Daedalus crew walked over and nodded his respect.

'Sorry Ma'am, some of the military personnel have started helping with moving the supplies, and I know for a fact that Doctor Chase is talking with the Colonel.' He informed, she nodded in return, smiling.

'Okay, well the rest of you, welcome to Atlantis. If you would like to go inside, you'll be escorted by one of our teams who will lead you to the Gate room. I'll join you shortly.' She smiled kindly as they moved toward the towering city.

Carson beamed at them all, Teyla nodding her respects. John watched with a smile, noting faces and features. Ronan who had taken to standing at the back merely looked on, expressionless. Teyla frowned, looking around her.

'Where is Rodney? He never misses this.' She asked John.

'Probably sulking, don't worry about it.' He responded, walking over to Weir after the groups had gone. Teyla felt concerned, but followed him.

'So, that's a lot of people.' John stated. Elizabeth nodded excitedly.

'Lot's of new people with lots of stories to tell.' She folded her arms looking up at the Daedalus. 'It's nice to have some fresh blood around here.'

'Is Colonel Caldwell remaining for a few days?' Teyla asked.

'He's in no rush, there's no immediate need for the Daedalus to be back at Earth. He said he wants to make sure that everyone…settles in.' She said stiffly.

Colonel Sheppard nodded noting Elizabeth's disapproval.

'They'll be fine, as long as we don't get attacked by the Wraith immediately. I imagine that wouldn't serve as the best welcoming.' Carson smiled. John gave him a frown.

'Way to jinx it, Doc.' He commented. Carson shrugged and gave a nervous glance at the sky. Ronan smiled slightly. John saw Teyla looking back at the city, looking for something in particular. He knew that she was looking for Rodney. Okay, so, yes, he wasn't here, which was unusual, and apparently he had been acting strangely for a while which he hadn't noticed until he refused to help out with the new power source, but – McKay was a whiner. He could sulk for days and give everybody the cold shoulder for reasons they never knew. John had just become so used to Rodney's attitude that he couldn't distinguish the fake pain from the real kind. John sighed and decided to hunt the Scientist down later; brandishing a big stick to beat him with when he refused to tell him what was wrong. _I swear he does it on purpose just to get attention – wouldn't be the first time._

'John?' Elizabeth frowned. Sheppard's focus came back to the group and he stuck his hands in his pockets.

'You seen the DOA lackies yet?' He asked. Elizabeth smiled slightly.

'Two of them, they've already gone in. The Lieutenant said Doctor Chase is still on board.'

'DOA lackies?' Carson asked, Teyla frowning at his side.

'Yeah, apparently the DOA has made a few additions to the expedition personnel.' He said sourly.

'Oh, aye, that should turn out well.' Carson commented negatively. _Disaster in the making…_

'How many?' Teyla asked worriedly, knowing full well the power the DOA had.

'Three, nothing we can't handle.' John turned to Elizabeth with tenseness.

'Actually, Doctor Chase's record makes for an interesting read, very…active.' She explained vaguely. John raised his eyebrows.

_Active meaning difficult? Annoying? A generally irritating person? _He wondered. _We've already got Rodney for that._

'Active? What, this guy actively enjoys being a pain in our butts?' He stated waspishly.

'This _woman_ enjoys horseback riding, rock climbing and cooking, Colonel Sheppard. I'm afraid my activities go no where near your butt.'

The team turned to face the ramp of the ship. The Colonel's first reaction involved his eyebrows hitting the top of his head, eyes popping from his skull.

_Damn._


	2. Fairly Manly

Chapter 2 – Fairly Manly

_Damn._

Carson managed an attractive gaping mouth while Ronan just stared hungrily. Teyla and Elizabeth watched the woman walk down the ramp in a black, pencil-skirt suit with a white blouse, fashionably unbuttoned with a long silver necklace approaching her navel. The suit accentuated the curves perfectly whilst succeeding in informing onlookers that she was a woman of business, much like the expression on her face. Her green eyes watched the group expectantly. Her blonde hair was just longer than shoulder length with ringlets and waves bouncing around her as she moved forward.

John started from the top and let his eyes slowly study her. He stopped at her feet, her long legs still fresh in his mind, he frowned. She was wearing stilettos. _What on Earth…?_

'Nice foot wear.' He said pleasantly. 'Wouldn't have been overly helpful if the Daedalus had been attacked.' He commented.

The group stared at him, his cheek making them frown disapprovingly. The woman stepped off the ramp and approached them, her face showing no sign of a response to the comment. She merely strode toward them, heels hitting the ground swiftly.

'I assure you, Colonel, I can run, skip, jump and salsa in these shoes.' She said confidently, stopping just short of him. Her eyes ran over his face, his torso, and then quickly swept up to his hair. Her expression was unreadable. John raised an eyebrow. _Is she checking me out or sizing me up?_

'Oh, well, perhaps you can give us a demonstration.' He said challengingly.

'And perhaps you can teach your hair the laws of gravity.' She replied, coolly.

Ronan and Carson began to chuckle until John glanced back at them with a venomous expression. Elizabeth cast Teyla a warm smile before stepping forward.

'Doctor Chase? I'm Doctor Weir.' She extended her hand and Chase immediately took it with a large smile. 'I take it you've already met Colonel Sheppard?'

'No, no. I've only heard from rough description.' She glanced at his hair again. 'Very rough.'

John narrowed his eyes at her and Elizabeth put a hand on her arm and guided her forward to the rest of the group. 'This is Teyla Emmagan.' Teyla nodded and smiled. 'Doctor Carson Beckett.' Carson stepped forward and extended his hand with a welcoming smile.

'Hello.' His blue eyes shone animatedly. Chase nodded and smiled warmly.

'And this is-' Elizabeth began.

'Ronan Dex.' Chase interrupted, looking the Satedan up and down with a mischievous glint in her eye. She nodded her hello and Ronan did the same, a slight grin on his face. 'Again, through rough description.' She added to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth smiled, her eyes moving to Sheppard at the back with his arms folded. His expression was less than amused. 'I trust your trip here was interesting?' She asked politely. Chase gave her her full attention.

'Absolutely. It's something about the first time on an intergalactic space ship that gets the blood pumping, especially for a scientist.' She explained.

The group were startled by a loud groan coming from Sheppard who had promptly slapped a hand over his eyes the moment she had finished speaking.

'You're a scientist?' He moaned. _God no, that's just…not fair…_

'Yes, the worst kind of woman, I'm sure.' She said coldly, and John did a double take. She then searched the group with her eyes. 'I have met all of the department heads, except one – mine. I suppose Doctor McKay is frightfully busy.' She began walking to the city with an expression of excitement and awe. 'A city such as this must require much attention.' Elizabeth walked on one side of her and Carson the other. Teyla and Ronan glanced back at John before falling in line.

'Oh aye, it does. We've not even searched some parts of the city yet.' Carson told her.

'Really?' She asked excitedly, her eyes lighting up with the promise of adventure. 'I can't wait to get started.'

Elizabeth warmed to her immediately. These were the type of people she needed. _Maybe the DOA has sent an ally and not an assassin…_

'Well as soon as you are briefed and assigned quarters, not to mention taken on the grand tour, you can get stuck in, so to speak.' Elizabeth informed her. Chase smiled and picked up the pace, her heels hitting the ground with an eagerness.

Teyla glanced at Ronan and saw the mans eyes firmly contemplating Chase's derriere. She elbowed him in the ribs and his eyes turned to her with an innocent, boyish grin. Teyla smiled and shook her head. John, who had taken to following all of them from behind, shook his head with disgust. _Oh please, what's with the childish behaviour? It's not like she's that…_ He paused, craning his neck to look over Teyla's shoulder at Chase's back. _Okay, maybe she is, but there's no need to get all high school about it._

Teyla drew closer to Ronan and said in a whisper, 'Perhaps we should take Doctor Chase to meet Rodney, I think he would enjoy her company.' She suggested.

Ronan frowned. 'Why?'

'Does Rodney not like blonde scientists?' She asked simply. 'I believe it would give him a lift.'

'Yeah, until the moment he realises that she's got bigger man parts than he does.' Ronan replied with a half serious expression. Teyla laughed jovially at his crudeness and slapped his arm.

The group strode into the Gate room where the buzz of excited chatter filled the space like a hive of bees. Chase stood in the front with Carson while Elizabeth continued forward to the centre of the room directly in front of the Gate.

Major Lorne who had been chatting with two of the new military personnel had honed in on Chase with his jaw hitting the floor. _What in the…? There is a God, and his name is extremely hot blonde in…stilettos? _He realised what he must have looked like and straightened up quickly, the two newbie's smiling at each other.

'Don't worry about it, that's what we've been doing all week.' One of them muttered. A few of the men around him chuckled and smiled at each other. Lorne nodded, his eyes never leaving her. 'It's the worst when she walks in a room or round a corner unexpectedly. Every guy, and even a few girls in the vicinity get a case of the goldfish mouth.' Lorne frowned and looked at him; Sheppard who had over heard the conversation looked also. The soldier opened his mouth wide like a panting dog, his friends patting him on the back in approval. John clenched his teeth and made a mental note to learn their names and give them a hard time. _Idiots._ He glanced ahead and saw several of the personnel tapping each other on the shoulder and pointing at Chase's back, whispering with wide grins.

It was her own fault for dressing like that. _She obviously likes the attention_, Sheppard decided.

'Alright! Welcome to Atlantis.' Elizabeth greeted the group. 'Your department heads will shortly escort you personally to your living quarters before giving you the basic tour of Atlantis, at which point Chef will be serving dinner. I'm sure you're all eager to get started.' She looked at them, her new people, people she would get to know over the next couple of months. 'If Colonel Sheppard, Doctor Beckett and Doctor McKay would step forward and organise your groups.' She relinquished the floor to her piers.

Carson squeezed Chase's arm and walked to his small group with a warm smile, introducing himself and offering them an arm to show them their quarters. Sheppard leant against the wall moodily barking orders at the military to follow him. Elizabeth paused as the Gate room began to empty. It wasn't until she saw the Scientists looking around the room with frowns that she realised Rodney still hadn't shown up. The Scientists turned to her. She smiled sheepishly.

'Rodney can get a little wrapped up in some of his projects, I'm sure you'll experience the same very soon.' The Scientists liked the sound of that. Chase watched her as Elizabeth turned her back on them and clicked her head set. 'Rodney this is Weir, your people are waiting for you in the Gate room.' She said firmly. _Where in Gods name is he? _ It was a few moments until he replied.

'I'm busy.'

Elizabeth could handle his rudeness, but at times the man was unbelievable. 'Rodney, put down what you're doing and come to greet the people you will be working with.' She ordered under her breath so the newcomers would not hear.

'You mean the people who will be working under me?' He corrected her.

'Rodney…' She warned.

'Yes, yes, I'm coming!'

She turned to the scientists with another sheepish grin. A few minutes later, Radik strode into the Gate Room with an Ancient Pad. Elizabeth glared at him. The Scientists turned to look at the man they thought would be their boss.

'Radik…Where's Rodney?' She asked.

Radik hurried over and smiled at the newcomers. 'He is refusing to come, apparently the work cannot wait. He has asked me to do it.' He looked over the scientists again and his eyes rested on Chase. 'Oh my.' He muttered.

'Radik.' Elizabeth scorned.

'Sorry.' He said quickly, averting his eyes. 'Are we allowed to dress like that?'

'Radik, if you want to wear a skirt and some heels, I wouldn't say no but I'd be worried.' Elizabeth said firmly. She sighed. 'Rodney is starting to seriously bug me, I know he didn't agree to this experiment, but…well, have you noticed anything different about him lately?' She folded her arms.

Radik took a moment to think about it and nodded once. 'He's been a little more grouchy than usual; he's averaging maybe four scientists a week instead of two in reducing them to tears.' Radik informed her. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

'Right. Well, if you wouldn't mind…' She turned to the group. 'This is Doctor Zalenka, he will escort you to your quarters, it seems Doctor McKay has been detained.' She stated icily, nodding at Zalenka before walking up the stairs to her office. Radik stepped forward and started a little welcoming speech before offering a hand to take them to their rooms.

Chase lingered, her eyes staring up at the Stargate. Ronan, who had been leaning against the wall, moved soundlessly to her side. Chase did not turn to look at him but her eyes moved to acknowledge his presence.

'Ronan Dex, of Sateda, I believe?' She turned to face him. Ronan cocked his head at her. 'You're quite the celebrity at the SGC, only by hearsay of course, I don't believe you've actually travelled to Earth yet.'

'No.' He stated.

'Why not? You must have heard much about it from the people around you, it doesn't intrigue you?' She asked, her eyes studying him with a smile. _There's a word I think of every time I look at him - what's the word…intense. Oh yeah, intense is right on the mark._

'Just another planet. There's no difference.' He shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled slightly. He was playing the game and she knew it.

'I see.' She started walking. 'Has Sheppard and McKay not informed you of its wonders?' She glanced at him. 'Different cultures, countries, interesting languages and landmarks, promising technology…' She paused, giving him a darker look. 'But then I suppose you're into more active things – martial arts, perhaps?'

Ronan frowned. 'Martial arts.' He echoed. Chase nodded with a grin.

'Fighting with specific techniques.' She explained.

Ronan smiled faintly. 'I fight my own way.'

'So I've heard.' She said quietly.

'And you?' He asked.

'And me what?'

'Rock climbing?' He queried with a slight sceptic tone.

'Mh, something about climbing a mountain in the Alps or a cliff in Bolivia, it gets the blood pumping.' She grinned.

'A mountain?' He echoed slightly impressed.

'A few.' She informed him. 'I tend to be very active as well.'

Ronan smiled at the seductive look she gave him, and stopped as Radik came back around the corner, spotted Chase and blew a sigh of relief.

'Doctor Chase, I was concerned when you were not with the group…' He smiled awkwardly.

Chase nodded. 'I apologise Doctor Zalenka, I was…distracted.' She smiled at Ronan.

'I was talking to her.' Ronan stated, giving Radik a slightly icy glare having been interrupted.

Radik smiled sheepishly. 'Well, would you like me to escort you to your quarters?'

'Absolutely. Ronan, we'll continue this conversation later?' She raised her eyebrows and Ronan nodded.

Radik allowed her a moment to look out on the city before they began walking down the corridor.

'Over dinner.' Ronan called, Chase looked back and smiled warmly, nodding, before turning back to Zalenka.

Ronan watched them go feeling a sense of pride and confidence surge through him. It had been a while since he had romanced a woman of any world, and apparently, he still had it. _Not bad. Little rusty_. He grinned to himself and walked away.

An hour later, the scientists were being escorted around Atlantis by Radik who was giving them the grand tour. They had paused at the first of the labs as Carson's small group of Doctors emerged, some of them looking either highly embarrassed or close to tears. Carson stalked out of the room and saw Radik, and then Doctor Chase at his side, both of them looking rather taken back by his moody expression. He tried his best to force a believable smile, but to no avail.

'I'm afraid Rodney doesn't seem to be in the best of moods this afternoon, you might want to leave the introductions until later, when he's got some food into him…or the stuffing knocked out of him.'

Chase giggled, flashing Carson a warm smile as he walked past. She could have sworn that he gave her one in return.

Radik hesitated at the door, pausing to whisper in Chase's ear. 'It might be best if we move on, Rodney can get into a temper at times and I'm certain that's not what everyone here wants to see the first time they meet their boss.' He smiled and called for the group to move on to the next lab. The scientists glanced in nervously as they passed. Chase lingered. As the group moved on, she stood in the doorway of the lab, looking over the room.

It was large, probably one of the main ones, she figured. The machines and laptops dotted around the room intrigued her. She didn't know about the tour and the settling in business, give her a case and some equipment and she'd be away. The three people in the room were working busily, probably not wanting to be disturbed. Two were standing on the far side whispering to each other and glancing at the third who was sitting in the middle, typing furiously and glaring at the computer screen. He was handsome in a geeky way with short brown hair and intense brown eyes. His features were pointed in a way that made her think that he was a serious man – a serious scientist – one that she could work with, and also one that she would become annoyed at. This man had to be McKay. The man stopped suddenly, his jaw clenched. He threw the two scientists on the other side a dirty look and stood.

'What is this? Does it look like there's a water cooler to chat around?' He paused as they stared at him. 'Get back to work!' He yelled.

The two departed immediately, practically flying through the door. Chase side stepped them and watched them scoot around the corner. The man sat at his computer and once again glared at the screen. _Definitely McKay…_she thought.

Chase folded her arms. He hadn't come to greet them; he hadn't given them the tour. He had been foul to Carson and his group, not to mention two of his own people, and then there were the rumours she had been hearing…not only with the group she had come with, but the people on the Daedalus and on Earth. She waited in the door way, knowing that this man was going to be a problem.

Carson stepped into the room and looked at Chase with a frown before looking at Rodney. He gave her a curious smile and she raised an eyebrow. He stepped forward and grabbed a pen from the table where McKay sat. He looked up at Carson with a smugness.

'Ah, Carson, come to apologise, have you?' He folded his arms and waited.

'No, I haven't you great pansy, I forgot my pen.' He held it up for McKay to see and watched as his face contorted into fury.

'Pansy? I am not a pansy, who says that-' He paused as his eyes fell on the figure over his shoulder. He side stepped to get a better view, his mouth falling open. His eyes popping from his head, he stared at her from head to toe. Carson watched him incredulously. The man had no finesse.

'Rodney!' He complained.

'Yeah.' He answered, not taking his eyes off of her.

'Stop gawking at her, she's not a zoo animal.' He looked back at her, smiling apologetically.

Rodney didn't hear, he turned his head to face Carson but his eyes were glued to Chase. 'Pen? Sure, take one.'

'What?' Carson growled, the colour rising in his cheeks. When Rodney's staring didn't let up, he stepped in front of the view. Rodney leaned side ways to peek over his shoulder. Carson slapped a hand to his forehead and groaned.

Chase walked forward and laid a hand on Carson's shoulder. 'It's alright, Carson, I have a feeling he's suffering from some sort of seizure that most idiots experience.' Rodney's eyes suddenly flew to her face, the illusion broken. 'It's called imbeciles-with-sight-and-no-mind.' She narrowed her eyes at him as his mouth snapped shut. Carson stared.

'Excuse me?' He asked tensely, the colour in his cheeks draining.

'Oh that's quite alright, most second rate scientists can't handle it.' She explained kindly. Carson stifled a laugh.

Rodney's pupils narrowed as white hot anger set into his features. 'Look here, little missy, I don't think you have any idea who you're talking to-' He yelled.

'I know exactly who I am talking to, Doctor McKay, even though you didn't have the decency to introduce yourself and greet the new staff.' She said coolly.

'I was busy!' He snapped. 'And it is not your place to question me seeing as you just work for me.'

'I didn't come here to work for _you_, I came here to better the expedition by doing my part in defeating the Wraith and exploring the galaxy, McKay.' She said stiffly.

'It is _Doctor _McKay, you little ingrate, and if you ever-' His voice rose to a shout and Carson cut in.

'That's enough Rodney! You've been a nasty little bugger for long enough today, how about you give it a rest?' He snapped.

Rodney rounded on him. 'She is my inferior and the first thing she does is come in here and call me an idiot! That's a sure way to get promoted-'

'Well maybe if you had been a gentleman and introduced yourself instead of drooling over her like she was a piece of meat-' Carson argued.

'She is a piece of meat, Carson! And that is exactly how we are supposed to see her; why else would she dress that way-?' He snapped, looking at her curvaceous figure lined by the suit.

'Dress what way?' She asked angrily.

'That way!' He pointed at her chest and the room exploded. Carson was defending her honour whilst Rodney was insisting that she didn't have any, meanwhile Chase was explaining that her outfit was perfectly decent. The sound was not unlike that of a building being demolished – the foundations of their first meeting cracking and shattering with the force of a hurricane.

'Hey!' A voice roared from the door way. 'What's going on in here?'

Sheppard stood glaring at them each in turn, his gaze falling on Chase, his group of new soldiers standing behind looking on.

'I was explaining to the newbie that calling the boss an idiot was not the best way to start out – and also that she needed to dress more appropriately.' He rushed. Chase threw him a dirty glare.

'Rodney was being an ass, as per usual.' Carson said heatedly.

'McKay, the Jackass from the Milky way – has poetry worth your narrow minded idiocies.' Chase said confidently. The soldiers chuckled and Rodney glared at them.

John folded his arms and watched the woman with interest. Chase raised an eyebrow at him.

'Would you rather fetch a camera Colonel and take a photo, because I can tell you right now, I won't stand for you looking at me like that.' She said angrily at his hungry stare.

'Well maybe Rodney has a point.' John stated.

'He does?' Carson asked.

'I do?' Rodney asked, equally as surprised.

'Don't mince your words Colonel, just speak plainly.' Chase put her hands on her hips, readying herself for whatever he might say.

'I intend to.' He said firmly. 'What you're wearing isn't suitable for Atlantis operations. It's distracting.' He stated. _It's a lot more than that, but I can't think of a better word right now – I'm too distracted to think of a word that is synonymous with distracted._ Chase narrowed her eyes at him as Rodney gave a noise of triumph.

'And you suggest that I adorn the uniform of the others?' She looked down at Rodney's clothes.

'It would be a good start, Doctor Chase.' He insisted coldly.

Chase stepped forward, one long leg slowly stepping in front of the other, her green eyes never leaving his face. She stopped just short of him, arms folded.

'I'm afraid that I'm not into that whole "let's look exactly the same as the other guy" sort of thing. And I'm sure that the black T-shirt is fine for you with your _fairly_ manly arms, but I'm a woman of style, Sheppard, and that is something you will have to get use to.' The soldiers behind looked at each other, some amused and some apprehensive. Sheppard clenched his teeth angrily. She paused, examining his face for a moment before brushing past.

'Who the hell are you?' Rodney asked nastily, she paused in the doorway and turned.

'Doctor Chase. It was very nice to make your acquaintance, Doctor McKay.' She said icily, and left. Carson gave Rodney a disdainful look and ignored Sheppard, following Chase out of the door.

John took a moment to gather the shreds of his dignity with a fury rushing through him, and glanced at Rodney. He paused. The scientist looked sick, aghast, as though he had seen a Wraith. His face quickly changed to one of a hurt child and he sat at his computer typing slowly. John raised an eyebrow and said nothing. _Oh come on, she wasn't all that tough. _The last thing he needed right now was to hear Rodney's tale of woe. He turned and barked at the soldiers to get moving, then paused. _Fairly manly…? _John glanced at his arms with a questioning eyebrow, and left the lab in a sulk.


	3. Complications

Chapter 3 – Complications.

Elizabeth put her head in her hands and shut her eyes. It was the first day. The first day that the new arrivals had been here, not two hours had gone by and here was Sheppard, Rodney, Radik and Carson in her office, yelling at the top of their lungs.

'She was completely out of order-' Rodney shouted at Radik.

'Well you are a difficult person!' Radik replied.

'She didn't have a leg to stand on, she was out of line-' Sheppard insisted angrily.

'That's because the both of you were being complete jerks!' Carson snapped.

'Alright!' Elizabeth yelled, standing. 'That's enough.'

'But-' Rodney began.

Elizabeth held her hand up and Rodney fell silent, sulking.

'I can see that there are some problems here, but for some reason I have no idea what you're talking about. It could be the fact that you haven't told me exactly what is bothering you; instead you walk in here and begin a shouting match.' She stared them down, wanting them to feel guilty and displeased with themselves. 'Carson, tell me what you're so upset about.'

The group turned to Carson, Sheppard and McKay looking livid that she had asked him and not them.

'Well, I heard that Colonel Sheppard and Rodney were coming to complain about Doctor Chase and decided to complain about their complaining seeing as their behaviour was positively foul.' He said firmly.

'Oh please! She started it!' Rodney exclaimed. Elizabeth glared at him and he stopped talking.

'John, what exactly did she do?' She asked lightly, indicating for him to be as professional as possible.

John looked fit to burst, but managed to keep his temper with a dangerous voice. 'From the moment she walked in here she acts like she owns the place and the people in it.'

'That's not true.' Radik stated, pushing his glasses up his nose.

'It is so true, I mean, have you seen the way she dresses? And also, the blatant dismissal of the chain of command-' Rodney began.

'You're both embarrassed that she verbally kicked your butts.' Carson commented, folding his arms. 'That's all this is Elizabeth, I guarantee you.'

John and Rodney both started yelling at him, another minute went by before Elizabeth had to silence them. She glared mercilessly, moving to the front of her desk.

'Alright.' She said angrily. 'I can see that you're upset, but yelling isn't going to solve anything. And may I remind you Colonel that I was there the moment you first met Doctor Chase, and from what I could see, you were the one in the wrong, not her.'

John stared at her icily. 'I thought the "she" was a "he," and I also knew that she was recommended by the DOA.' He said, as though it made everything clear. _She's got to be evil!_

'Yes, excellent. She can't be trusted.' Rodney stated.

'We have no idea of her relationship with the DOA, and she seems like a lovely person-' Radik began.

'Yeah right, and it had nothing to do with the two mountainous peaks staring at you from her front…' Rodney said in disgust. Sheppard made a loud noise of approval. _Damn straight, even though they are kinda hard to avoid…_

'How dare you suggest that I-' Radik began furiously.

'Don't get all angry and righteous with me pal now that you've suddenly decided to grow a pair-' Rodney spat.

'Rodney.' Elizabeth snapped.

'You are an arrogant, sorry excuse for a human bei-' Radik sneered at him.

'Oh, cry me a river, Zalenka.' Rodney growled.

'Stop, that's enough! I don't care what's happening; all I know is that the two of you are acting like strangers.' Elizabeth said dangerously. 'The both of you need to cool down. Understood?'

'This is ridiculous.' Rodney glowered at them and left the office muttering venomously.

'I agree with McKay…for once.' Sheppard stated and left directly after.

Elizabeth sighed heavily and turned to the last two. 'What is going on?'

'Rodney's being his usual self, just more so, but Sheppard…I'm not sure.' Carson answered. 'Chase was just defending herself. Rodney and the Colonel were being…well…_mean_.'

'Mh, I've heard from some of the new soldiers that Sheppard's been making inappropriate comments about her appearance…and how it relates to certain bedroom situations…' Radik explained.

'What?' Elizabeth said incredulously. _That's not possible…that's not the John Sheppard I know._

'Personally, I think they're both deprived of some action, if you catch my meaning. Maybe this will blow over in a few days, after they've vented some more.' Carson suggested positively.

'Maybe, but that's not the point. I don't understand why they hate her so much…' She wondered.

'Hate is a strong word-' Radik began.

'Aye, but it's not far off.' Carson gave him a grim expression, one which he reluctantly mirrored.

'Okay.' Elizabeth returned to her desk. 'Keep an eye on them; tell me if anything major happens. Let's just hope that all they need is some space.' They nodded at her with slightly sad faces and left her office talking as they went.

Elizabeth watched them go, and then her gaze was drawn to Teyla as she wandered through the control room to her office, a troubled expression on her face. She stood in the doorway with a questioning eyebrow.

'Trouble?'

Elizabeth nodded. 'Woman trouble.'

Teyla looked mildly surprised. 'I tried to speak to Colonel Sheppard when he left your office, but he just walked by me as though I had not spoken.'

Elizabeth shook her head. There was no excuse for their behaviour.

'It is strange.' Teyla entered her office further. 'Colonel Sheppard is acting agitated and cruel, and yet Ronan is surprisingly…happy.'

Elizabeth leant forward, eyebrows raised. 'Happy?'

'Yes. I caught him humming.' Teyla said slowly with a comical expression.

'Ronan…humming?' Elizabeth leant back. 'Well that's different. I wonder why he's so upbeat?' She frowned.

'I believe it is the same thing that has Colonel Sheppard agitated.' She explained. Elizabeth smiled slightly, partly because she was amused, and partly because it convoluted things even more.

'I see.' She shook her head slightly. 'Aren't men complicated? It's not just me thinking it, is it?'

Teyla smiled. 'You are not alone, Doctor Weir.'

Dinner in the main hall was always loud, busy and generally chaotic. The rush to get the food you wanted before it ran out, to get the preferred spot away from the soldiers or nearer to the Nurses. Or as far away from Rodney McKay as possible. Some people noticed his absence, and that of Sheppard. The gossip was vicious and the rumours spread quickly like a flame to gasoline. Most of it concerned the two people at the top table, the table where the leading team sat. The table on which Ronan and a blonde female were sitting.

Chase laughed at Ronan's blunt and honest answers, she liked being spoken to like this. Straight and direct, no lies and cover ups, awkward moments where he tried to figure out the new person. He didn't care what boundaries there were, and as of yet, she hadn't presented any.

'That's simply because he's military – beards aren't allowed.' She explained.

'So he shaves it off and then covers himself in perfume.' He said incredulously. 'He always reeks of the stuff.' Ronan commented.

'It's after shave.' Chase explained. 'Not perfume. Don't let him hear you call it that, I'm not sure his ego could take much more today.'

Ronan watched her. He had heard of what had happened and had approached Carson about it when he hadn't been able to find Sheppard or McKay. He had been told that it was not her fault. He believed this only because of the next person he ran into, Lorne, who told him what Sheppard had been saying behind her back to the soldiers about her shapely appearance. It was totally out of character, and he didn't understand it at all. _Something's wrong with Sheppard. _So he had decided to meet her for dinner after all. And so far, it was going great. _Well, I think. It's not a disaster._

Ronan liked her. She had a spirit, a fire about her that got him excited, that made him flirt – no matter how badly he did it. Chase smiled at him as she cut up a piece of her steak and ate it. That was also something that impressed him – her eating habits. While most of the women on the base, Teyla included, seemed to always eat the healthier options with only something small as their naughty course – Chase went all out. Medium rare steak with chips, onion rings and mushy peas (which she had pushed to the side of the plate, telling him that she hated the texture and what was the point of mushing them?) It was exactly what he had, except he had about twice the size of everything on her plate – he was a big guy.

He watched her a moment longer before impaling a chip and eating it.

'What's your name?' He asked.

She looked up, surprised.

'I don't know you're name - can't keep calling you Chase.' He explained, a smile on his lips. She grinned in return.

'Christina.' She said lightly. 'But people call me Chris.'

'Chris.' He echoed. She nodded. 'There's a soldier called Chris under Sheppard.'

Chris cocked her head. 'What's your point?' She asked.

'You act like a man.' He stated. Chris looked up from her meal, expressionless. 'Talk like a man – but you definitely don't look like a man.'

Chris remained unresponsive to the fully male look he was giving her. Her eyes looked down at her food. 'It's not easy for a woman in my position, especially looking as I do. Most guys think that because I have a big ass and an even bigger chest that I shouldn't work next to them. That's the excuse they give anyway, never mind that I'm far more intelligent than they are.' She said stiffly, giving him a half smile.

Ronan nodded. He had found a boundary. But weren't boundaries meant to be pushed?

'You handle yourself well.' He commented. 'No one expects it of you, and they get a mouthful. It's their own fault.' He turned back to his food. Chris smiled at him, feeling a rush of liking toward the man. 'McKay's an idiot, but Sheppard isn't usually like that.' He explained.

Chris looked doubtful. 'The moment I stepped onto Atlantis Ronan, the man hated my blonde, big-brained guts.' She stated.

Ronan leant back with a grin on his face. 'You're intimidating.'

Chris paused and looked at him with a playful expression. '_You_ don't look all that intimidated by me.' She leant back in the same fashion he had, arms crossed.

Ronan locked eyes with her. 'Maybe I hide it well.'

They shared a smile.

'What a nice couple you make.' A voice sneered at them. 'I can't believe you invited her to sit at our table.'

Ronan and Chris looked up at Rodney, tray in hand and a vile look on his face. Chris pushed her chair out, an expression of anger setting her fine features.

'Sit.' Ronan stated, looking completely defiant.

Chris looked at him. 'I know when I'm not wanted.' She moved her chair again.

'Sit.' Ronan repeated. This time Chris paused, and then pulled her chair back in. Ronan leant forward and continued eating. Chris followed suit.

'You're choosing the dumb blonde over _me_?' Rodney snapped incredulously.

Ronan stood viciously fast, Chris directly after him.

'Ronan.' She warned. 'Don't.'

Ronan faced McKay with a look of venom. McKay stared back with loathing.

'Sit, or walk.' He said dangerously.

Rodney was livid, and also hurt. 'I can't believe this. I can't believe that after everything we've been through, you'd let your…**member**…determine your friends.'

Ronan advanced and Chris sped around the table, putting a hand on his chest. Rodney had taken several steps back looking surprised. Ronan glared at him with the gifts of his intimidating appearance.

Rodney put the tray on a table of scientists behind him and didn't look Ronan in the eye. 'Fine.' He stalked off.

Chris looked around the hall at the faces looking up at them and whispering to their neighbour. She turned to Ronan who looked down at her with an intense expression.

'I'm sorry.' She said quietly, but looked him in the eye.

Ronan nodded. 'McKay was out of line.'

'Yes he was.' She agreed. 'But his anger is understandable.' She laughed bitterly. 'It seems my presence has caused a bit of a stir.' She looked to the floor.

'I like your presence.' He stated, sitting. 'McKay doesn't bother me.'

Chris stared at him for a few seconds before sitting in her chair once more, keeping the smile and the warmness she felt for his comment inside of her as they continued eating.

Sheppard watched from the entrance of the food court, arms folded, a dark expression on his face. Ronan and Chase. He loathed the idea. _Beauty and the Beast – except in this case, Ronan would be the Beauty._ This would not end well and he would make sure of it.

Radik Zalenka sat at the table surrounded by the usual lab devices making bleeping sounds and tapped gently on his computer, pausing to sip his coffee.

'Radik.' A voice barked.

Hot coffee sloshed onto his shirt. Rodney marched into the room and Radik rolled his eyes, his hand straying to the sopping wet, brown patch on his once clean shirt.

'I thought you were going to eat something?' He stated, hating the idea that he would have to spend another hour in the same room with this man with the mood he was in.

'I lost my appetite.' Rodney snapped. 'Where are we?'

Radik raised his eyebrows. 'You lost your appetite? Is that even possible-?'

'What's our status on this ridiculous mission to get everyone killed.' Rodney stated venomously.

Radik could feel the hostility radiating from him in waves. There was no point in arguing.

'We're almost done. I'm going to recommend that we begin in the morning.' He stated wearily.

'Are you now?' Rodney turned on him, arms folded. 'Well, I guess I can't stop you, can I?' He turned to his computer.

Radik felt a tinge of anger sweep through him. Rodney could be the biggest idiot in the universe and he could never see it because he was so wrapped up in his own problems. He watched Rodney glare at his computer and folded his arms. Rodney took a moment to feel the Czech's eyes drilling into the back of his head, and turned, giving him a deathly glare of his own.

'What?' He said viciously.

Radik narrowed his eyes. 'What has got you in this mood?'

Rodney stood. 'Excuse me?'

'You've been like this for a while, before Chase, before the discovery of this device.' He stated, casting a look at the small machine sat on the desk. It was the size of an apple with an obvious Ancient design; the cool metal was dark, indicating its lifelessness. They knew that when it was active, it could produce enough light to combat a star. 'What is bothering you?'

Rodney shook with anger, his lips tightening. 'Nothing is bothering me. Nothing except ridiculous questions from ridiculous people.' He unhooked his computer, slammed it shut and stormed to the door. 'It's a wonder we get anything done around here.'

Radik shook his head and then took a moment before clicking his head set. 'Doctor Weir? This is Zalenka.'

The familiar voice responded. 'Go ahead.'

'We are ready to transport the equipment to the chosen planet, if you would like to start straight away, may I suggest tomorrow morning, bright and early?' He said tiredly.

'Yes, absolutely, thank you Radik.' There was a pause. 'Is everything alright?'

Radik sighed. 'Not really, but there's little to be done about it.'

Elizabeth knew what that meant. 'Alright. Meet me in my office at six, we'll discuss arrangements.'

'Of course, goodnight Doctor Weir.'

'Night Radik.' Elizabeth clicked her headset and rose from her desk. She made her way to the food court with an Ancient Pad in hand. She paused at the steps and scanned the room. It was late, and the crowd was thinning. She could see some of the late-nighters getting large cups of coffee, those who had finished their work and had eaten were putting their trays on the stacks. Her eyebrows rose when she spotted Ronan and Chase rising from a table and walking away, both talking with smiles on their faces.

She wandered up the stairs and over to the buffet, scanning the various foods to find one compatible with her mood. She picked up a Caesar salad and sat on the closest table, giving the Ancient Pad her undivided attention. A tray fell in front of her and Sheppard slipped into the seat opposite.

'Colonel Sheppard.' Elizabeth greeted, a slight apprehension to her voice.

'Doctor Weir.' He said coldly, turning to his food.

Elizabeth glared at him. 'You can't be mad at me for your behaviour?' She asked waspishly. John looked up at her slowly, his eyes pinning her.

'My behaviour…?'

'Yes, from what I've heard, you're not the John Sheppard we know.' She leant forwards. 'And further more, what have you been saying to your soldiers?'

John frowned. 'Saying…? What?'

'Unkind things about Doctor Chase, things that I'm sure every single one of your male soldiers would appreciate, but not your female soldiers.' She said harshly. 'If one of them decides to assault you, I'm likely to let it go.' She turned to her own food. It was John's turn to be upset with her.

'That's not fair.' He stated.

'No, it's not fair. Because they'll have robbed me of the satisfaction of knocking some sense into you.' She said firmly, her green eyes furious at him. 'What were you thinking?'

John fidgeted in his seat, avoiding her gaze. 'I wasn't. I was just being one of the guys for once and she's-' He reasoned.

'You're not one of the guys, Colonel, you are the superior military officer of this expedition and I suggest that start acting like it.' Elizabeth scolded him.

John was still, his eyes narrowed at her. He stood slowly, his eyes watching her.

'Yes, ma'am.' He said coldly, and left the table, his food forgotten.

Elizabeth watched him go and then shook her head looking highly miffed and highly guilty. She leant back with her arms folded, the pad sat on the table in front of her. She sighed. _I hate it when things get complicated._ She tried her best to think of tomorrow and the things that would need to be done for the experiment. A large chunk of her personnel would be going off world – John and Rodney included. Elizabeth paused. _I think it might be best if I ask Doctor Chase to go along. Maybe the time spent together will do them good…and then again maybe it won't. _All she could do was hope.


	4. Midnight Stroll

Chapter 4 – Midnight Stroll

The morning had been hell for all involved. Rodney had made a huge noise about how much of a disaster the experiment would be until Elizabeth had firmly told him to shut it. Sheppard, who was already angry at Elizabeth, was livid that his team and Major Lorne's had been dragged into it in order to do the heavy lifting and the security detail. Elizabeth had saved the best for last - that some of the new scientists would be accompanying them – Chase included. All the teddies went out of the cot as Rodney and John seethed at the idea.

Elizabeth had silenced them and insisted that this was an ideal off world mission for beginners. It was a low risk mission with a large escort. Rodney reminded her that it was about as low risk as eating a basket full of brownies on a strict diet and praying to God that you didn't gain weight.

Carson had been asked to join the team in order to assess the health risks, a suggestion made by Zalenka. He had happily packed up his things and wandered into the gate room as cheery as ever, then he ran into Rodney and a storm blew into his cheerful attitude. Ronan however was quite content; he liked the idea of escorting Chase around an alien planet at the same time as annoying the hell out of McKay.

It had taken two hours to get all the equipment through the Gate, and Radik reckoned it would take the majority of the day to set up – and this was after the security teams did their sweep.

The planet was beautiful, one of their Alpha sites. Large forests and lakes, open meadows and warm Sun. They transported the equipment to a large clearing a ten minute walk from the Gate. Radik, who despite the constant moody attitude from McKay, was smiling brightly. He stopped in the middle of the field, dropped the large bag he was carrying and turned to Lorne.

'This should do very nicely.' He chimed.

Rodney threw him a dirty look, obviously hating the happiness he exuded. He slapped his neck. 'Yes. Right in the middle of bug central. Great idea.' He stated lazily.

Chris carried two large bags, and was busy concentrating on guiding Ronan. He carried a large rectangular container which obstructed his view, Chris was throwing directions and warnings his way and they both seemed to have a great time doing it.

'Okay, a little to the left, there's a hole coming up – maybe some sort of alien rabbit – Oh!' She laughed heartily as Ronan stumbled and then up righted himself. The Satedan gave her a wide smile from behind the container.

'We are supposed to be working – not having a social get together.' Rodney criticized sharply. The two paused, dropping the container and the bags. Chris gave him a steely eye.

'And what did you bring?' She asked, folding her arms.

'This.' He stated, looking down at the small rucksack. 'Essentials, the delicate stuff.'

Chris raised an eyebrow. 'Control crystals and the power device?' She queried.

'Lunch, sun cream and bug repellent.' He stated.

Ronan and Chris looked at each before walking off. Rodney was blank. Lorne walked by, dumping a large bag and giving him a cold look. 'Get moving, Doc.'

'What?' He exclaimed, clueless. 'Look, I have to make sure that my lunch doesn't get warm, I've got meat in here.' He paused, looking for someone who was interested. 'Do you want the head scientist to get food poisoning in the middle of a deadly experiment?'

He drooped and trooped back to the Gate as slowly as possible.

Once the equipment had been transported and the roomy, sturdy tents set up, the tables and chairs went in, the files and laptops for research. This filled half the tent; the other half was cordoned off as the soldiers – instructed by the scientists – began to construct a large glass case where the device would be housed. It was designed so that a person could walk in and touch things if they needed to, but since the container was a special Ancient material meant to minimalise the intense and deadly effects of radiation, there was a doubt that anyone would go in there after it had been set up. The device was set on a pedestal made by Zalenka and Rodney to act as an interface with the device. They had a fair idea of how it would be used and knew that the interface needed to patch directly into the device so that it could be controlled and new information could be uploaded into it. An interface outside of the walk-in container was linked to the one inside. This was where commands would safely be given. Meanwhile, two other tents were set up across from the main tent – one where the staff would sleep, and one where they would eat. It was a long term project which meant a lot of people working on it in rotating shifts.

It was dark by the time they had finished. The majority were only now setting their small bags with their personal items by their camp beds, and Rodney had started to fuss.

'I should be near the door – or the exit, it's not exactly a door – in case something goes wrong. I can get to the device quicker.' He stated.

'You mean you can get to the Gate quicker.' Ronan corrected him. Rodney glared at him.

Chris, who had dropped her bag – and herself – onto the camp bed next to Ronan, put her arms behind her head and looked at Mckay.

'You know that being nearer to the door means being nearer not only to the bugs, but to whatever nocturnal beasts this planet has to offer?' She said lightly.

Teyla grinned at Chase and watched Rodney considering this new information whilst thinking of how to look dignified.

'Well, I have a gun.' He said, nose in the air.

'And if you shoot a person instead of an evil, man-eating beast?' Chris asked, eyebrow raised expectantly.

Rodney paused, and then turned to his bed, grabbed his gear – of which there was a lot – and headed to the other end of the tent.

Chris lay back down and closed her eyes, giving a light sigh. Ronan, who had been watching her, stared down with a bemused expression. 'What?'

She opened her eyes and looked at the top of the tent. 'First time through the Gate, and now I'm kipping over on an alien planet in another galaxy.' She stated.

Teyla smiled. 'It must be strange. I cannot imagine it as I have lived in this galaxy all my life.' She perched on her camp bed while Chris sat up and did the same.

'Well, I imagine the both of you will be in the position I'm in when you go to Earth – if you go. Do you want to?' She asked.

'I would very much like to travel to your world, from what I have heard it is a wondrous place.' Teyla noted that Sheppard had entered the tent looking stiff at their friendly conversation. 'Especially Ferris wheels.' She looked pointedly at Sheppard. 'I believe Colonel Sheppard has a great love of them, as well as football.'

Teyla smiled up at him as he walked past. Chris felt the awkwardness of Teyla trying to patch things up and hurried to help. 'That figures, football's an intense game. I suppose it's the ideal sport for a pilot.' She left it open for him to contribute, but he never did. He walked to the other end and began a conversation with Mckay.

'Well this is lovely.'

Carson entered the tent and took the spot next to Ronan, looking genuinely impressed by their lodging.

'Only _you_ would think that bugs and back pain are "lovely."' Rodney sneered, pouring the contents out of his bag, half of them falling to the floor.

'It's camping Rodney.' Carson said stiffly. 'Fresh air and fishing – that's a real holiday.'

'You go camping?' Chris asked, taking an interest. 'My Father used to take me.'

Rodney groaned and plopped onto the bed, giving Sheppard a dark look. 'Wonderful, something else for them to bond over.' He muttered. Teyla who had been waiting for such a comment, scowled at him.

'In fact, we use to travel to Scotland to camp as a family.' Chris told him. Carson who looked absolutely delighted at this fact, sat on Ronan's bed to talk to her, ignoring the look Ronan gave him.

'Really? Where did you go?' He asked excitedly.

They reminisced over camping details and discovered that they had camped in the same location when they were kids, and they laughed over the evasive fish in that Lake.

'It was incredible. I swear, they were non-existent! My Father got so frustrated at one point; he leant too far over the side to get a better look and tipped the whole boat over. My Mother was less than pleased.' Carson chuckled.

'Mh, my Brother and I would insist that we kept seeing the fish on different sides of the boat. He got so agitated swinging the line in every other direction that eventually he took us by arm and threw us in the water. He laughed so hard that he didn't see my Mother sneak up behind him and push him in after us.' She grinned. 'Suffice to say, we drank a lot of hot coffee that summer.'

'Oh aye, Scotland's a beautiful country, but when it's cold – it's damned cold.' Carson nodded.

'It sounds similar to a Lake on Athos. My Father would take many of us to the lake to fish. It produced a large number, enough for the whole of my people.' Teyla told them. Carson gazed wistfully at her.

'If only I were so lucky in my efforts.' He sighed.

'Well this is wonderful chit chat, but maybe we can clear out and get some food, mh?' Rodney suggested, interrupting the conversation.

'We wait for Lorne to get back, and then we eat.' Sheppard stated, busying himself with his side arm. He emptied the gun of the ammo clip and looked at it.

'Where is Major Lorne?' Chris asked with a frown.

Sheppard looked at her, slipping the clip back into the gun with a sharp snap. 'He's checking the perimeter with his team.' Chris nodded. A silence filled the tent as Sheppard and Mckay brushed past and left.

Carson watched Chris with sympathy and then stood. 'Well, there's no harm in going out and getting some air?' He suggested. Chris smiled as he led the way out.

Teyla lingered, taking Ronan's wrist before he left. 'Ronan.' He ducked back into the tent and frowned at Teyla's troubled expression. 'We must talk of John and Rodney.'

'What's there to talk about?' He asked stiffly.

'Much.' She frowned.

'No.' He stated. 'If they get out of line, I stop them.' He said forcefully.

'These are our friends, Ronan. We must help them.' She said, equally as forceful. 'I will talk to Rodney; he is more likely to talk to me than to you.'

She waited for him to say that he would take Sheppard, but he didn't. She narrowed her eyes at him.

'Maybe.' He stated, and left the tent and Teyla in a state of disquiet.

The group came to a number of twelve. Sheppard, Teyla, Ronan, Rodney, Carson, Chris, Radik, Lorne, Captain Wallis and Lieutenant Harding, Doctor Troy and Doctor Griffin. Sheppard had been baffled by the fact that Elizabeth wanted his team there. Rodney was understandable, but Ronan, Teyla and himself? And then Lorne's team, with the exception of Sgt Davies who was ill with appendicitis, had been ordered to come also. A lot of security for a deserted planet.

He stormed by the tree line, the darkness absolute. The stars shone above in all their alien wonder. An orange planet the size of a foot ball could be seen in the sky. He hadn't paid too much attention to it. He was busy thinking.

His angry thoughts were interrupted by someone calling his name, at first he thought it was Teyla, and then with a furious realisation, he found that the voice belonged to Chase. He quickened his pace.

'Colonel!' She called, only a few steps behind him.

The light of the camp could be seen to their left, but Sheppard had gone as far as possible to get away from the noise and busy commotion. Chase was not invited.

'Colonel, I know you can hear me, so why don't we start behaving like adults instead of sulking children?' She said angrily, obviously peeved at being ignored.

Sheppard growled low in his throat and turned with such viciousness that it made her jump. 'Get back to the camp.' He barked. She planted a hand on her hip and looked highly doubtful. 'I am not sulking, this is me walking.' He stated harshly.

'Oh I know, I only said it so that you'd be forced to talk to me.' She said simply.

John shook his head as though trying to clear her face from his mind, turning to continue his walk. She hurried to catch him up and then sped up to stand in front of him so that he practically walked into her.

'What are you doing?' He asked irritatedly.

'Mending bridges.' She stated, looking up at him sternly.

'Really? Because it looks like you're getting in the way.' He said nastily, and swept past her.

She watched him go feeling an irritation of her own. 'You loathed me before you even met me, Colonel.' She called out. 'It's not fair.'

John paused. At least she was direct. He turned to face her.

'I don't know why you loathe me so, but I can tell you that I will not be punished for it.' She walked toward him. 'And there is absolutely no reason that your friends should be punished for it.' She said angrily.

John advanced, his movements showing nothing but attitude. 'I am not punishing anyone – I haven't done anything here.'

'Maybe that's the problem.' She stated confidently. 'Maybe you need to do something.'

They stopped just short of each other, both with folded arms and elbows almost touching. John looked down at her condescendingly.

'Like what?'

Chris narrowed her eyes at him. 'Apologise.'

John laughed bitterly and turned. 'I don't think so.

'Why not?'

'I have nothing to apologise for.' He growled.

Chris caught his arm and swung him round, John giving her a venomous glare as he saw her green eyes willing for him to burn. 'How about treating me like nothing more than an object to be desired?' She seethed, her voice shaking. 'How about for sharing that notion with your soldier boys?'

John looked at her warily. 'How did you-?'

'Rumours, Colonel.' She said quietly. 'And just so you know, I do not own handcuffs or a bunny rabbit tail – so most of the scenarios you conjured will be impossible.' She drew closer to his face. 'Not that I would ever even consider touching you with my bare hands when I can't even look at you without feeling the intense urge to cause you pain.' She said furiously, her voice full of emotion. She gave him a final look of loathing and marched in the other direction.

Sheppard watched her go, hating her – and hating himself. He knew he had been unfair, but the reason he had taken this little walk was to try and figure out why. He was a nice guy, but there was something about this woman that ruffled his feathers. What worried him more than anything was that he seemed to be acting like Mckay – and that was the last person he wanted to be. The only reason Rodney could get angry is because someone had taken a jab at his ego – was it the same for Sheppard? Usually he would relish the challenge of a beautiful woman poking at him, but he had treated this differently, he had taken offence. And now it was tearing the team apart.

John threw a hand through his hair and moved his feet impatiently, looking back at the camp. Chase had just walked into the tent, away from the noise of the group. He shook his head.

_Women. Why do they make everything so complicated? I'm a simple guy, and it works for me. Give me a gun, give me a Wraith and we're off to the races._ He paused. He needed perspective, and he had – reluctantly – found some. It all boiled down to two things. No one deserved to be treated the way he had treated her, and nothing was worth dividing his team.

John started toward the camp, but veered away from the main tent and aimed for the tent with the camp beds, the tent Chase had just walked into. He wasn't sure what he would say. An apology? Maybe…she deserved it, but to be frank, he didn't really do apologies. He hated anything awkward. What he really wanted to say was nothing at all, there were plenty of things he wanted to_ do_ with her…John looked to the dark ground, scolding himself for the mental images flying through his head.

_Get a grip, John. Like she'd go for that – did you not hear? She can't bear to look at you let alone touch you…and I don't like her all that much so why am I even thinking of…just say sorry and go to bed. Wake up in the morning ready to start over…yeah, that's a plan. _He walked to the tent with more purpose.

He picked up speed, feeling the urge to see her face and take back the words he had said. Or to get into another little spat. As perverted as it was, he enjoyed it. He liked that there was someone with the wit to challenge him.

It wasn't until he saw another figure moving toward the tent that he slowed to a stop. He recognised the tall, graceful strides of the Satedan and watched him duck into the tent. John heard gentle voices and hesitated. Okay, so he wasn't going to apologise now. Later. Tomorrow. Bright and early.

_New plan. Okay. _He hesitated before turning to the main tent, moving toward the noises and bright lights.

He couldn't help but look back. He marched toward the main tent feeling a surge of frustration, he shook his head. He willed himself to believe that it had nothing, not the faintest thing, to do with jealousy.

The night drew on and eventually all the members of the expedition dragged themselves to bed. They all knew that tomorrow promised them a long day of challenges, and the thought itself was enough to tire them. All slept well until Mckay woke with a start at one in the morning.

His snores cut short; he snapped up, the sleeping bag clutched at his chest. It was dark – pitch black. His nerves shot through the roof. He could still hear extremely well, his ears straining to catch the sound that had woken him. Blood pounded through him, his breathing heavy.

Rodney waited to see if anyone else had woken up, waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark. He started to see the other beds, the lumps breathing slowly, one or two shifting positions. Someone was snoring – he was certain it was Carson. Someone else was grunting gently and he knew immediately that it was Ronan. Other than that, the wind whistled through the tent and the night was still.

He relaxed slightly, slowly laying his head back on the pillow. _If you can call this thing a pillow, more like a brick. I can't believe we weren't provided with proper stuff, like this sleeping bag is any good here. I'm freezing. _An idea floated into his mind, like so many brilliant others, but this one was of the more simple persuasion. There was coffee in the food tent, hot liquid to make him tingle with warmth. _Anything to stop hypothermia, I mean seriously, did they not know that there were sub zero temperatures on this planet at night? Reconnaissance is such a joke. _He sat up again with the intention of hunting for that coffee, and then something else dawned on him. _Dark. It's dark and I have no flashlight, not to mention the fact that this is an alien planet – there could be anything out there. I mean, I know I heard something, I wasn't just dreaming it…It could still be out there. _

Rodney quickly lay back down and rolled over rubbing his arms. _Fine, I'll just have to freeze._

A muffled thump sounded next to the tent and Mckay shot up with a yelp. No one else woke, a lump toward the end shuffled to the other side, but no one else had heard it. Rodney started panicking, eyes darting all over the tent, and then finally to his side of the tent, where just outside, the sound had happened. He scrambled out of bed, tripping on his sleeping bag and falling flat on his face.

'That was graceful.' He squeaked, moving frantically on hands and knees to the sleeping form of Sheppard next to his bed. Rodney gave him a sharp poke.

John grunted, stirred, and did not move again. Rodney growled low in his throat and poked him again, harder. John woke, barely, eyes searching the top of the tent. He made another grunt, and turned over.

'Sheppard!' Rodney rasped. 'Wake up! We have an emergency here!'

The Colonel started to snore. Rodney hung his head.

'Saviour of the Universe – yeah right.' Rodney muttered bitterly.

'Rodney?'

Rodney flew to his feet at the whisper of his name.

'Who's there?' He squeaked.

'Chase.'

Rodney scowled to the darkness as a curvy figure moved through the centre toward him.

'Go back to bed.' He snapped quietly.

'Kinda difficult with you making all that noise.' She whispered. 'What's the matter?'

'Nothing.' He folded his arms defiantly.

'Nothing was making you wake Sheppard…or trying to wake Sheppard.' She prodded, giving the Colonel a stern look.

Rodney's heart was still beating quickly, he had no idea what was going on, but he did know that he did not want to do this with her.

'I heard something.' He said stiffly.

'A thump?' She asked.

Rodney looked up at her. 'You heard it too?'

'Yeah, and there were a couple earlier.' She replied.

'Well why didn't you wake anyone?' Rodney huffed.

'Because it's probably nothing.' She said shortly.

'And if its not?' Rodney argued.

'Then we get eaten.' Chase answered.

Chase heard Rodney breathe sharply. 'Well, maybe you should go check it out.' He insisted.

'Me? Why me?' She asked.

'Because you think it's nothing.' He said lightly, masking his fear poorly.

'And if it's not nothing?' She asked firmly.

Rodney paused. 'Well, I hear you die and then I wake the others to go and kill it.'

Rodney watched her silhouette fold her arms. 'My Knight in shining armour.' She drawled.

'Well what are we supposed to - !' Rodney began angrily.

'Grab your side arm, Mckay.' Chase turned and walked down the centre.

Rodney froze only for a moment before fumbling with the things beside his bed, feeling the cold metal of the weapon, and plucking it from amongst the clothing. He shuffled down the centre in time to see Chase lean down next to Ronan.

'Yes, excellent, wake Ronan.' Rodney said with relief. He then saw Chase pick up his gun from the ground and turn to him, her head looking down at it.

'What? _We_ are going out there?' He said incredulously.

'Yes.' She said, sweeping past him to the exit.

'Wait, wait, wait a second!' He flapped his arms to get her attention.

'Don't wake anyone!' She said urgently.

'Why not!'

'Because, like I said, it's probably nothing.'

'But-'

'Look, you can stand behind me, if there is something; it can attack me first – okay?' She offered.

Rodney paused. 'Okay.' He sounded completely fine with it. 'But if it is something, may I just say now before the screaming ensues – I told you so.'

Chase paused at the entrance, breathing through the anger. She moved into the cold night and immediately looked up to the sky. The moon, the stars, the orange planet all shone brightly. She turned to see Rodney emerge in some sort of dark pyjamas and bare feet.

'You didn't think shoes would be a good idea?' She commented, moving around to the edge of the tent.

Rodney glared at her. He could see her face now in the light of the moon. The landscape was eerie, the forest black but showered in silver light. The wind bit at his toes. Maybe shoes would've been a good idea, not that he would admit it. He kept close to Chase.

She paused at the edge, and Rodney who had been looking nervously at the tree line across from them on the other side of the camp, bumped into her. She turned to give him a dirty look.

'What?' He said waspishly.

'Nothing.' She whispered.

Mckay glared at her back as she peeked around the corner. He could see that she was wearing a large fleece, his eyes fell to her bare legs and he gaped.

'Wh – hu- what are you wearing? Please tell me you are wearing underwear!' He said nastily.

'Yes I am, and shorts for your information. Now concentrate on what we're out here for and not on my ass.' She whispered shortly. She slinked down the side of the tent with Ronan's weapon raised and Mckay followed.

'Do you even know how to use that thing?' He asked testily.

'Yes, Ronan showed me.'

'Wh, huh! It's not even on!' He exclaimed.

'Rodney, if I turn it on, it'll emit a red light, and if there is something around the back of this tent, then they will be able to locate us very easily. I will turn it on when it is needed.' She turned back to the forest. 'If they haven't already been alerted to our presence by your constant talking.' She muttered.

'What was that?' He said quickly.

'Nothing.'

'You said-'

'Shhh!' Chase peeked around to the back of the tent, and then stepped out. Rodney, who had not been prepared, stumbled out behind her, fumbling with his weapon for a few seconds before pointing it into the darkness of the forest.

There was only grass between the forest and the tent.

'See, nothing.' Chase stated, lowering the weapon.

Suddenly a loud 'crack' sounded in the darkness and both of them aimed their weapons into the forest, alert and tense.

'What was that?' He whimpered.

Chase remained silent.

'Can you see anything?'

A few seconds went by and the stars shone unnaturally. 'No. Nothing.'

'…there!' Rodney said loudly, his eyes full of panic.


	5. The Giggle Twins

Chapter 5 – The Giggle Twins.

Chase aimed the weapon where Rodney aimed his, only hers was slightly more steady than his shaking grip. Their eyes strained into the darkness as a form stumbled out of the forest. The form strode out looking to the ground before looking up and stopping in its tracks, it immediately raised its hands.

'Whoa! Hey, it's just me!'

They sighed with relief.

Rodney groaned. 'Lorne? What the hell are you doing?'

'Taking a whiz…if that's okay. If it's not I'm sure we can talk about it.' He said, clearly amused at the weapons they pointed at him. Chase lowered her weapon, and when Rodney did not, she put a hand on it and lowered it for him.

'It was you making all that noise?' Rodney asked incredulously.

'Keep your voice down Rodney.' Chase said angrily.

'Sorry. Didn't think we wanted the bathroom to be so close to the camp so I went out a little way.' He explained, walking forward.

'Alone, and unarmed?' Rodney criticized.

'Yes Mckay, I haven't needed supervision since I was four.' Lorne said tiredly. 'I am armed though.' He shook his side arm at them. 'So let me get this straight – you thought there was something out here, and the two of _you_…came to investigate?'

'Rodney was panicking and I didn't see fit to wake anyone else, oh and by the way – I told you so.' She said to Rodney.

'I was not panicking…we are on an alien planet, we have no idea what things could be here.' He said defensively.

'Sure, Doc, I just find it interesting that you woke Chase to come out here.' Lorne joined them.

'I didn't wake her…I tried to wake Sheppard, but I doubt even if he were in the middle of a demolition derby that he would wake up.' Rodney explained. 'I wanted her to wake Ronan – '

'And I'm glad I didn't.' She interrupted.

'Yes, yes, yes, it was just Lorne, can we move on now?' He said waspishly.

'Mh, you guys go ahead. I can't sleep.' She jumped on the spot to ward off the cold.

'What are you going to do?' Lorne asked, frowning.

'Coffee; get some feeling back into my legs.' She answered, her teeth chattering.

Lorne's eyes fell to her bare legs and he nodded. 'Absolutely, hot coffee, sounds good.' He said merrily.

Rodney shook his head as they walked to the food tent. He paused. 'Hey, wait for me.'

The three wandered through the cold night to the dark towering form of the food tent, the material billowing in the wind. Lorne went in first, holding the cloth up for Chase, and without realising it, dumping it on Mckay's head as he was walking through. Rodney thrust the material off of him and glared at Lorne who was completely oblivious.

Chase immediately went to the small electrical lamp in the corner of the tent.

'Watch your eyes.' She warned before hitting the switch and showering the tent in brightness. Lorne squinted and Rodney's hand flew to his face.

'Ow! A little more warning would've been nice! I need these for seeing! You could've seriously damaged my eyes! How would you like it if I press a wrong button tomorrow and blow everyone up?' He scolded her, arms still hiding his face from them. Lorne gave him a look that said everything about the scientist was pathetic.

Chase smiled to the floor. 'If you press any wrong buttons Mckay, we won't know the difference having been incinerated.'

'Nice thought.' Lorne commented, flipping the switch on the mobile kettle and reaching for three metal cups.

_Metal cups for hot drinks…what idiot came up with that one?_ He thought.

Chase sat on the end of the table nearest to her. There were two large ones in the room with foldable chairs. 

'Milk and sugar?' Lorne asked. Chase wrinkled her nose.

'Mh, no thanks. Just black for me.' She brought her legs up under her chin, laying her head on her knee.

'Ah…caffeine straight up.' Lorne commented.

'Yup, there's no better type of coffee. Forget all that mocha, latte, extra foam, non fat crap they got goin – just gimme it black.' She grinned. Lorne grinned in return.

'Milk.' Rodney said loudly, glaring at Lorne. 'Sugar.'

'Figures that the man up for satan-worshipper of the year likes his coffee sweet.' Lorne poured liquid into a cup and handed it to Chase and poured another for Rodney, finally pouring himself one. He sat next to Chase with Rodney opposite him, an unimpressed expression on his face. Chase tried to hide her smile at his amusing comment, but Rodney honed in on it.

'Funny…tell me, Doctor Chase-' He began.

'Chris.' She corrected him.

'…Chris…whatever – tell me why you think I was so wrong in criticising your dress sense when you wear hot pants to bed in a tent with over half a dozen men, mh?' He said lightly.

Lorne shook his head. 'You always got to push it, Mckay.'

'No, it's alright.' Chase laughed. 'This is what I wear to bed Rodney, just because I'm on an alien planet doesn't mean I'll change. And just because I'm in a tent with men doesn't mean that I and they cannot restrain themselves.' She sipped her coffee, and then turned to Lorne. 'This is good.'

He smiled. 'Years of field training – I lived off the stuff.'

Rodney hated how they had easily gotten back to their conversation, shoving his anger aside. 'Keep on the way you do with your blatant flirting I think Ronan may have difficulty keeping himself in line.'

Chase and Lorne paused in their pleasant moment to stare at Rodney. Chase narrowed her eyes and Lorne's face contorted with anger.

'Watch your mouth Mckay.' He commanded.

'Ronan and I are friends Rodney, just because you haven't been so hospitable, there's no need to get so jealous.' Chase snapped.

Rodney's eyes went wide with fury. 'I am not jealous! What in the hell do I have to be jealous of?' He yelled, standing. Chase and Lorne stood also. 'A woman whose mission in life is not devoted to science, but to the merciless flaunting of seriously curvy body parts for sex deprived soldiers?'

'Oh please, I don't flaunt anything.' Chase said harshly.

'And I am not sex deprived.' Lorne snapped.

'If I were flaunting something, you'd know about – you're not?' Chase turned to Lorne with a questioning eyebrow.

Lorne was momentarily stunned; he had not expected to discuss this. 'Well, no. I'm not.'

'Really?' Chase smiled, her hip sticking out at a provocative angle while she looked at him, hungry for the gossip.

Lorne wished the lamp would suddenly blow so that she could not see his burning cheeks. He smiled charmingly whilst looking slightly shy.

'Uh, hello? Insulting you here!' Rodney threw his hands in the air.

'Hey.' A voice behind them greeted. Sheppard ducked into the tent, shielding his eyes from the light. 'What are you talking about?'

'Colonel.' Lorne stated his greeting and straightened slightly.

'We were just talking about-' Rodney launched into his insulting speech but was cut short.

'I don't care.' John interrupted. 'I was only asking to be polite.'

'Well that would be a first.' Chase folded her arms, giving him a look of loathing.

John's eyes fell on her form, and then her legs. _Damn, she is just…how is that fair? She just walks around…focus…_

'What are you doing in here at almost two in the morning?' He asked firmly.

'Well, we were – ' Rodney began.

'Mckay heard a creepy noise and got frightened, made me go out with him to investigate and it turns out it was Lorne stepping out for a moment to relieve himself.' Chase explained.

'Thanks for putting it that way.' Lorne said quietly, being genuine.

'You're welcome.' She said simply.

'I was not frightened, and I did not in any way ask you to come with me.' Rodney folded his arms.

'Yeah, because you would go and check out a creepy noise in the dead of night all by yourself.' John said, eyes narrowed at the scientist.

'Well, it was just-' Rodney began defensively.

'Yeah, look, can you guys clear out? Doctor Chase and I need a moment to talk.' He said pointedly, hands in pockets, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Lorne nodded and smiled at Chase, saying his goodnight. Rodney, the wind knocked out of his sails, nodded.

'Fine.' He touched his cup, burnt his hand and then looked at them in a dignified way. He clasped the handle and left, Lorne once again dropping the material on his head as they left. 'You know, that is seriously annoying…'

Chase scowled at John. 'You didn't have to make them leave.'

'Yeah I did.' He said awkwardly, crossing over to the kettle and pouring himself a coffee.

Chase watched him. He wore dark sweats and a black T-shirt. He did look good in a black T-shirt…Her eyes snapped to his face as he turned to her.

'Sit.' He nodded to the table as he sat where Lorne had been before.

'What? You're going to be civilised now?' She said waspishly.

John gripped the hot metal. _Take your lumps, take your lumps…_'I know I haven't exactly been the nicest or the most pleasant guy over the last two days, and it doesn't really make a lot of sense because usually I'm a really nice and pleasant guy, all I know is that the moment your heals hit the pavement…there was something…different.' He avoided her eyes.

'Oh!' She sat, a look of vindictive pleasure on her face. 'You're trying to apologise.' She leant back. 'Go on.'

John gritted his teeth. 'Okay…so, I wasn't a perfect gentleman.'

Chase waited. 'That's it? It's that hard for you to form the words required to make-'

'I'm sorry, alright?' He said firmly, fixing her with a look that told her not to push it. She understood.

Chase nodded slowly, her expression dark. She leant forward. 'What made you hate me?'

'I don't hate you.' He stated simply, giving her a look as though the suggestion were ridiculous.

'Okay, so what made you so…evil? Is it because I'm a confident woman - ?'

John laughed, leaning back, folding his arms with a handsome smile. 'No, no. I like women. And I especially like confident women.'

Chase smiled awkwardly. 'Okay…so what was it?'

'I'm not sure. Maybe because I knew you worked for the DOA-' He started.

'Ho! No! No, no!' She shook her head and her hands. 'I do not work for the DOA, I work for me. And Doctor Weir. And reluctantly, possibly Doctor Mckay if he can get his act together.'

'I think you'll find he's like that with anyone and everyone – changing him is about as impossible as flying to the moon on a Harley.' John nodded.

'I got that.' She agreed. 'But just so we're clear – the DOA are rotten snakes who care for nothing except money and the welfare of their own beloved country – which isn't bad, I'm just saying, there's a whole Universe out there that needs to be counted.' She stated.

John smiled slightly, nodding. 'So we're okay?'

Chase thought for a moment, her eyes wandering before settling on Sheppard's raised eyebrows. She smiled. 'Sure.' 

John paused and leant back. 'So you really don't own a bunny rabbit tail or handcuffs?' He asked playfully.

Chase gave him look of absolute firm seductiveness. 'The tail I left at home, but the handcuffs sit in my drawer…easy access from my bed.'

John smiled widely and watched her long legs slide under her chin. He frowned.

'What are you wearing?' He asked.

'Shorts.' She stated simply.

'Huh.' John's eyes lingered on her legs for a moment before reaching her eyes. 'Very nice.'

'The shorts? Or the legs?' She asked, an eyebrow raised.

'I can't see the shorts.' He sated, leaning forward. Chase smiled.

'You're flirting with me Colonel Sheppard.' She said with a playful expression.

'If that's what you want to call it…' He said with a smile at his own obvious interest. 'And call me John, Colonel is for the soldiers.'

'I think you'll find that I have many qualities a soldier possess'…John.' She pouted. 'Stubbornness, stamina…endurance…' She watched his eyebrows hit the top of his head, blowing air out of his mouth at her forwardness. She smiled and then stood.

'I suppose I should get some rest. Rodney'll work me hard tomorrow – I've no doubt.' She smiled down at the Colonel who stood also.

'Well, I'll walk you back to your tent my lady.' Sheppard said in mock polite voice. She grinned at him as he shut off the light and held up the material for her to go through. As she did, his hand met the small of her back, guiding her through. She paused on the other side as he joined her in the cool night. His hand fell away from her back. She looked up at his face and suddenly realised that he was quite tall. _Maybe it's just the hair…_

'Thanks.' She grinned, and walked on. Sheppard lingered.

'You're welcome.' He muttered to the darkness.

_Okay…so that went well…_

The morning came with a swift vengeance for those who had been up late. The Sun shone through the tent entrance with a determination to reach every corner. Rodney grabbed his ridiculously small pillow and shoved it over his head.

_God…someone turn the torch off…it's so inconsiderate…I should see…who that is…so I can scold them in the morning…God, turn it off, so bright…really bright, hold on… _Rodney flew into a sitting position, yelping at the bright Sun invading his eyes. He shoved a hand over his face and groaned.

'Naturally…it would be the Sun…' He moaned. His hand fell to his side and he reluctantly opened his eyes. His eyes went wide and his head jerked to every corner of the room. All the beds were empty…

_It's like some awful horror movie…I wake up and find everyone missing, only to walk out side and see their mutilated bodies hanging from the trees… _He whimpered.

Rodney reached for his clothes and pulled them on quickly and with little grace, once he had stuffed the shoes on to his feet he grabbed his trusty side arm and headed for the exit with stiff shoulders. 

_Alien planet, anything could happen…maybe that thing I heard last night wasn't Lorne at all…and then maybe I'm over reacting and they've all gone to secure the perimeter, in which case I would very much like to stay in bed…only one way to find out…_He stepped out of the tent with both eyes shut. He opened one – no danger. He opened the other – still nothing. No evil, hungry alien beasts and no mutilated corpses hanging from trees. He jumped at the sound of laughter in the distance. The food tent.

_Okay, I over reacted a little – but no one was here to see…alien planet…anything could happen…_

Rodney slumped, heading inside and depositing his side arm, and then walking outside and to the food he could smell cooking. There was nothing quite like fire – heated MRE's for breakfast. 

Rodney wandered in to the food tent and found Sheppard and Chase sitting close together, laughing hard at something one of them had just said. John straightened up and tried to subtly regain his cool demeanour with a gentle hand sweeping through his spiky black hair. Chase, who apparently had no problem in looking like she was having a good time, merely wiped her eyes from the tears emerging from them.

'Of course after that, I told him that maybe listening to my advice on relationships was probably not the best idea…' John laughed, nodding slowly.

'Apparently so.' Chase agreed with a wide grin. 'He did forgive you though, right?' She asked, sipping her coffee, her eyes never leaving him.

'He did, yeah, I mean, it's a guy thing. We got over it and went back to work, which okay, a little awkward since she worked there for another month after it had happened, then she transferred to Utah.' John explained.

Rodney walked over to the coffee feeling exceptionally sour. _What happened to the yelling and the not liking of her? Last night, it looked like he wanted to kick her in the head, and today, what? It's secrets and in-jokes? They'll braid each others hair next…or at least bond over some other ridiculously superfluous thing. _Rodney paused, glancing at Sheppard. _Such a traitor, and now he's got a girly best friend – _

Rodney watched as Chase slipped one of her legs over the other and smiled at John. Sheppard returned the smile with a raised eyebrow. Rodney groaned. _They're not friends – stupid! Of course, it's Sheppard – and a woman with a pulse. Naturally there would be the flirting and the sickening seductiveness…this experiment is going to be torture. I might shoot myself before that thing has a chance to explode._

Rodney sat on the table over from Sheppard where Teyla, Zalenka and Lorne sat, and what annoyed him even more is that these three seemed equally as happy, laughing hard with wide smiles. He nodded his greeting with a miserable expression, swallowing his coffee before sitting, placing the coffee in front of him and then draping his arms over the table. Rodney plopped his head onto his arms and did not surface. Teyla raised her eyebrows at Lorne and Zalenka, both had comical expressions.

'Good morning Rodney.' Teyla greeted brightly.

Rodney grunted.

'We were just discussing your late night activities.' She informed him.

'Oh really.' The muffled reply sounded disinterested.

'Yes, I just want you to know that I feel unbelievably safe knowing that you are out there shooting our personnel whilst we sleep.' Zalenka joked.

Teyla and Lorne chuckled while Rodney looked up. 

'Funny, Zalenka, very funny, it's so funny in fact that I almost had the urge to crack a smile.' He said moodily, placing his head back on his arms.

'Figures you wouldn't be a morning person.' Lorne stated, sipping his own coffee.

Teyla's mouth twitched. 'Rodney has never agreed with the Sun disturbing his rest, I have often reminded him no matter how nicely he asks, she will not listen.'

Radik smiled about to continue the conversation when Rodney held up a hand and brought his drooping head up to what he obviously felt was an uncomfortable position. 'Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute…"she"? Why do you automatically assign the Sun a female gender?'

'Because it is my belief that women are far more agreeable in the morning.' Teyla said confidently. Lorne and Radik paused and then nodded. Rodney rolled his eyes.

'Fair point.' His head disappeared again.

'Mh, there's nothing like waking up to an agreeable woman in the morning.' Lorne stretched and then caught the amused looks of his friends. 'You know what I mean. It's better than waking up to a cranky witch with bad breath.'

'I can agree to that.' Zalenka nodded. Teyla laughed softly.

'Yes, yes, yes, happy people, with the laughing…' Rodney complained loudly. And right on queue, Sheppard and Chase fell about in fits of laughter, attracting knowing looks from all on Rodney's table.

Rodney gave them a bitter glare and inhaled his coffee, standing to get another cup. Teyla frowned. 'Rodney?'

Rodney looked back with frustration. _Saying my name is not a question – ask the question, ask the question! _'What?'

'You seem troubled.' She stated, glancing at Lorne.

Rodney retrieved more coffee and sat. 'About what?' He said grumpily.

'Certain things – this experiment has not been a favourable subject for you, and there are certain people, who seem to upset you…' She prodded. Rodney caught on.

'That's because she's evil. She's a woman, it is part of her mission statement in life – "Annoy all men unto death" – you know the drill.' He snapped, biting into an apple.

Teyla frowned, Lorne glared and Zalenka shook his head.

'Have you actually spoken to her yet, had a proper conversation?' Zalenka asked.

'No.' Rodney said incredulously. 'And I don't want to either.' John and Chase laughed again and irritation flickered across Rodney's face. 'What is with the giggle twins over there?'

The group glanced at Sheppard and Chris. Lorne shook his head, looking slightly stiff.

'Don't know, but they mended their hurts pretty quick.' He turned back to his coffee.

'Yes, it seems so.' Radik sighed, turning back to his own cup.

Teyla frowned at them while Rodney gaped at each. 'You've got to be kidding me!' He said harshly, and loud enough for Chase to glance over her shoulder and frown at him. Rodney scowled at her and then turned to the group and whispered. 'You've got to be kidding me. Her? You can do way better than that!'

Lorne cocked his head with a raised eyebrow and allowed Zalenka to do the stuttering. Rodney waved a hand for him to shut up and Radik fell silent.

'That woman will be the death of us all, and you're pining over the fact that Sheppard hooked her first?' Rodney seethed.

'Rodney.' Teyla said firmly.

'What? You got some feelings in that curvy little body for her too? Because I wouldn't be surprised!' He leant back and folded his arms. Lorne shook his head at his rudeness while Teyla and Radik remained silent. 'Ever since she arrived on Atlantis, there have been problems. It's like a seductive sneaky little spell has been cast on the personnel – she works for the DOA right? Maybe she drugged the food…only I didn't eat what you guys have been eating which is why I am the only clear headed one-'

'Clear headed?' Lorne said doubtfully, attitude dripping in his voice.

'She's not evil Rodney; you just want to believe that because she rejected you.' Radik stated tiredly.

'She did not reject me!' Rodney snapped.

'No, she did not. You had a misunderstanding. One that should be corrected if you are to work together.' Teyla said firmly, fixing him with a steely eye.

'You mean, if she's supposed to work for me.' Rodney said pompously. 'Look, I don't know why you're being sore at me when really you're angry at Sheppard for getting to her first – and even then Casanova might fail. He's not as irresistible as most women think.'

Teyla hung her head. She was not getting through. Radik sensed this and immediately changed the topic. There was only so much of Rodney a person could handle.

'Where is Ronan this morning? I have not seen him at all.' Radik asked gently. Teyla lifted her head.

'He left the tent early to scout the area, I saw him enter here but he left shortly after John arrived. I am not sure where he is now.' Teyla frowned.

'Oh not far, I'm sure, I don't think the umbilical chord between him and Chase can stretch that far.' Rodney said chirpily.

Teyla glared. 'Should we not begin work? Some of us were up far earlier than others and the hour is late.' 

'I had bad things happen to me last night and I was tired.' Rodney said defensively. 'It's not often I sleep in, in fact, it's never, this was a fluke!' He rose from the table as the other three headed for the exit. 'How would you like it if I made a mistake and blew us all to hell? Mh? Just because I was so tired?'

'Perhaps you should not follow your colleagues when they go to the bathroom, Rodney.' Zalenka paused at the exit and watched Rodney about to launch into another speech. He stopped mid-rant and drooped.

'Not fair.' He slumped through the exit of the tent and Radik followed, the thoughts dwelling on his mind that this would be a long day.


	6. Paininmyassacus

Chapter 6 – Pain-in-my-ass-acus. 

Ronan had returned just as the scientists sat down to work in the main tent. The small device sat innocently in the large glass container Lorne and his men had set up the other day. Radik touched the Ancient Pad and looked up at the device, cocking his head. Rodney became agitated by his questioning stare and gritted his teeth.

'Are you willing it to do the Macarena or something?' He snapped. Radik looked up. 'Get to work.'

Radik scowled at Rodney and walked over as the man started tapping on his laptop.

'I was merely thinking that it is strange that such a device, so small and so believably harmless in appearance, can generate so much power.' He explained.

'Yes, well, we'll see.' Rodney replied, not really listening, his attention focused on the computer screen.

'Considering the size of the last power source, this one is really quite remarkable.' Radik looked back at it with a feeling of admiration.

'Yes, let's bring that disaster up now, mh? Nice way to start the day.' Rodney said angrily. 'Pass me that.'

Rodney held out his hand for the Ancient pad and Radik handed it over gently. Mckay snatched it from his hand and his fingers swept across it, his eyes flicking between the screen and the Pad. He moved to the device's interface and confirmed the code.

_There's a lot to do and he's just standing there – and everything has to be exactly right, or we're dead. _He thought, noting the fact that Radik was watching him.

'Radik, make yourself useful. Go find the two new guys and bring them here, I need the help.' He ordered. Zalenka glared, but complied with the command, leaving the tent. _It's not like it's difficult or spectacularly amazing, I mean, hello! We're living in another galaxy with aliens that suck the life out of you with their hands – what could possibly be more astounding than that? But then I guess we've been here for a while, and this whole thing does tend to get a little old…living in another galaxy, not so special when you've been doing it nearly three years…_

Rodney heard a rustle behind him. 'Good. Now, the two of you need to adjust the generators to the right frequency, and don't take you're eyes off them for a second, they could fluctuate quickly and then we would all explode-' He paused when he turned to see not the two new scientists, but Chase and Sheppard, watching him with blank faces. 'Oh, it's you.'

'We're not actually going to explode, right?' Sheppard asked with a frown.

'No.' 'Yes.'

Chase frowned at Rodney's negativity.

'Not if we get it right.' She explained, looking up at the Colonel.

'Which I'm fairly certain we won't.' Rodney said firmly.

'Positive mind McKay, try working in the belief that we're not going to die – that would be a wonderful start.' Chase crossed over to Rodney's laptop and tapped some of the keys. Rodney rushed over and glared at the screen.

'What are you doing?'

'Seeing where you got to.' She said, scrunching her face, painfully aware how close Mckay was to hers. 'So that I can help.'

'I don't need help.' He turned the screen away from her and she stood with a frown.

'Well, what can I do?' She asked. Rodney looked away from her, folding his arms.

'I'm sure Ronan could use a hand in securing the camp or something.' He said defiantly.

'What? I'm not military McKay, I'm a scientist.' She said waspishly, knowing full well what he was trying to do.

'It's her job Rodney, let her do it.' John leaned on the desk and gave the scientist an encouraging look. 'Besides, there's a lot of stuff in here – you need the help.'

'I do not need any help.' He said indignantly. 'I am quite capable of doing it on my own.'

Zalenka entered with Troy and Griffin. 'We're here.' Troy said tiredly. 'What do you need us to do?'

'Nothing.' Rodney glared at the Ancient Pad.

Radik frowned. 'But you said you needed help-'

'Let me make this quite clear. I do not need any help-' Rodney said firmly, glaring at them.

'Who needs help?' Ronan entered with a puzzled expression, Teyla at his side.

'No one!' Rodney yelled.

'Help! Colonel!' A voice bellowed outside.

The group frowned. Rodney hung his head. 'Okay, so maybe some one needs help.' He raised his head as the tent emptied. 'But it's not me!'

Sheppard led the group out of the tent, searching for the source of the noise. He saw Captain Wallis being held up by Carson as they hobbled toward the group. Lorne and Lieutenant Harding emerged from the food tent and rushed over to their injured team mate.

'Carson!' John ran to them just as Captain Wallis stumbled to the ground, his leg torn to shreds. 'What happened?'

'Sir, something jumped out of the bushes and bit me.' Wallis informed him through clenched teeth.

'It was large and damned fast – the size of a small bear, except with bigger teeth and a hell of a lot more attitude.' Carson rushed. 'Wallis got a few shots off before the thing ran off, seemed to scare it. He couldn't get a clear shot though.'

John nodded and turned to the group. 'Separate scouts, Ronan and Teyla, Lorne and Harding. Stay in radio contact and don't go too far. If you find it, shoot first.'

The group split. Ronan and Teyla heading in one direction with Lorne and Harding heading in the other. John turned to the scientists. Chase jogged to help Carson with Wallis while Radik, Troy and Griffin exchanged nervous glances. 'Everyone get into the main tent and stay there, don't come out for anything.' He paused. 'Are you sure it was the size of a bear?'

Carson nodded. 'Aye, a small bear, but big enough to do damage. The Captain's lucky he didn't get his leg torn off.'

John nodded grimly and jogged to the tree line, apparently searching for the beast on his own. The group watched him go before heading inside. 'Wait! I need my med kit.' Carson exclaimed.

'Where is it?' Chase asked.

'It's in the food tent, under the buffet table.'

Chase nodded. 'Radik.' She allowed Radik to take Wallis off her hands. The scientists headed to the main tent and Chase jogged to the food tent.

She swept the material aside and headed for the buffet table, swerving behind it and kneeling, she moved a few boxes and packs with supplies in and found a medium-sized grey case with a red cross on the side. She snatched it from its snug little resting place and stood quickly. She froze, looking around the tent.

_What is that? _She heard a shuffle. A rustling. She couldn't locate the source of the sound. _Where is it coming from?_

She waited, her breathing fast, her heart pumping furiously against her ribcage. She could smell the fresh odour of the grass, could hear the gentle flapping of the tent in the breeze – but the noise she was focussed on was distinctive. It moved of its own will. Her immediate thought was _Carson?_

'Carson?' She walked along the buffet table. The noise was outside. She heard it again, it was closer. She stopped. 'Radik?'

She jumped as the noise sounded close to her, outside the back of the tent. Her eyes darted across the material and she took a step back, her hip hitting the buffet table.

Then she saw it – a shadow. Tall and broad, moving gracefully across the back of the tent. Without meaning to she whispered. 'Ronan?'

The form stopped and Chase knew that speaking was a mistake. The tent imploded, it rushed toward her, tearing with ferocity. She yelled with surprise as the form scraped through, claws flashing and biting at her skin. She was thrown back, over the table, landing hard on her arm and losing the med kit. She knew immediately that she was bleeding across her chest where it had swiped her, but she didn't have a moment to think on it as the thing pushed through the material towards its prey.

Dazed by the fall she looked up and saw it clamber onto the table with its front legs, snarling at her.

Carson hadn't been far off calling it a bear; it was large and furry with small black eyes and a snout. But its face resembled a dog – an ugly dog. The first thing that flew into her mind was a werewolf. A mouth full of teeth bared at her, drool glooped onto the ground at her side.

She watched it for a moment, body numb. Its shoulders moved dangerously, it was preparing. Chase suddenly found her senses and kicked the table leg; it gave way under the force of her boot and collapsed. The creature fell side ways onto the ground and Chase stumbled to her feet, swiping the med kit from the floor and rushing to the exit. But it was too fast; it rolled to its feet just as she had found hers and bounded across the space growling in frustration. An evasive prey was, apparently, not what it had been looking for.

It pounced onto her back and she fell under its weight, the med kit rolling under a table. It sliced her back and she cried in pain. It was so heavy; she could feel its hot fetid breath on her neck and jabbed her elbow into its face – once, twice, a third time. Finally the force of her blows forced it off her back. It shook its head stupidly whilst Chase clambered under the table with the med kit, grabbing it and emerging from the other side. She stood shakily in time to see it pounce, soaring through the air toward her, claws out stretched. She ducked, and the beast crashed into the table on her other side, a chair flying into her hip. Winded, she found that the few precious seconds she had that she could be running were spent fighting for air. When she finally stood, the beast had also recovered and began creeping toward her. One massive paw slowly placed in front of the other, stalking her as she moved around, trying to understand its next move. Its unnatural alien eyes pinned her with the knowledge that it wanted to tear her to pieces.

Chase looked to the exit of the tent, only glancing at it, and then turning her attention to the beast. She was sure that she saw figures running toward the tent - whether or not they would get here in time was a question about to be answered.

Gently, she dropped the med kit at her side, her hands straying slowly to her back. The animal paused, snarled, and leapt. Chase shouted with anger and brought a chair up from behind her and knocked the beast from the air. It fell to the floor immediately trying to upright itself, but Chase smashed the chair into its head, dropped it, picked up the bag and turned to the exit. Her hopes dropped through the floor. The beast blocked her exit, she had tossed it in the direction she needed to run out of.

The creature began to upright itself and Chase was tired. She was very tired. She hurt everywhere; sweat and blood sped down her front and back. There was no way to get out unless she moved it, but she couldn't see how. It was too fast and she was already past exhausted. She stumbled back as it stood and fell over a chair leg, landing hard on her back. Her eyes strayed to the back of the tent and she scolded herself. The thing had torn a great big hole in the back. _Idiot!_

She rushed to her feet, knowing she had wasted time, it was coming to its senses and it was not best pleased with her. She ran to the exit with the med kit flung over her shoulder, limping as she went, it roared after her, tearing across the tent. She turned the corner the moment she was outside and the beast skidded to a halt to follow her after it had leapt out into the open.

Chase ran as fast as she could, but even without her injuries, she could not out run the animal on open ground. It caught up with her easily and she looked back. It pounced, pinning her onto her back and sending the med kit flying. Chase put her hands underneath its chin and pushed, keeping the teeth away from her face. It roared and growled its protest, trying every way to get past her desperation to live.

The Scientists emerged from the tent fearfully and Carson rushed back inside. He came out a moment later with Wallis's side arm and hurried over to Chase. He raised the weapon.

A bright red blast hit it in the back followed quickly by another. The beast cried out in pain, but did not fall. Three blasts into its back closed its eyes and made it tumble to the ground. Chase was breathing heavily while the beast pinned her to the floor. For a moment, she could smell its odour, but it was not unpleasant. The beast smelled like flowers – it confused her, but only for a second. Ronan and Sheppard tore over and thrust the creature off of her, both of them helping her to her feet, taking an arm and practically lifting her off the ground to drag her into the main tent.

Captain Wallis watched as the two deposited her in a chair and Carson rushed in with the med kit at his side. 'Move please.' He immediately kneeled in front of her and looked into her eyes, checking the pupils. 'Sluggish, but responsive none the less. Ronan, pass me the bandages and the surgical spirit.'

Ronan obliged. All eyes were on Chase, covered in dirt and blood, the world around her nothing more than a blur.

John squatted by her side, inspecting a large gash in her arm. It was bleeding heavily, enough to make him worry. He looked up into her face. Her green eyes were blinking, as though she were too tired to remain conscious. Her head lolled onto her chest.

'Doc.' Sheppard warned. Carson turned from instructing Ronan what to do with the spirit and immediately checked her pulse. 'Rapid. She's not going anywhere Colonel, she's just tired. She's lost a lot of blood; also the adrenaline that was keeping her going is leaving her system, making her feel the pain and exhaustion. This – ' He took the top off of a needle and sucked a clear fluid out of a small bottle. ' – should help with the pain.' He gently pushed the needle into her arm.

Teyla and Zalenka watched on with frowns whilst Rodney gaped. Lorne and Lieutenant Harding jogged into the tent. 'Sir, the animal is secure – ' Lorne stopped when he saw Chase and surged forward. 'My god, is she gonna be okay?'

'She'll be fine. A few stitches here and there, one or two nasty scars for a few weeks, but she'll live.' Carson informed them.

Ronan stared down at Chase expressionless; Teyla couldn't tell what he was thinking. She saw his hand twirling his weapon absentmindedly, just watching. Then he looked to the floor and moved away to the back of the tent, concentrating solely on his weapon. Teyla frowned.

John lingered on inspecting her arm, fingers brushing her skin with a care. His hand took her shoulder gently and he stood, holding her protectively. 'Major.' He paused waiting for Lorne to respond, but he didn't, he only stared at Chase with a frown. 'Major.' Lorne snapped out of the trance and shifted his stance uncomfortably.

'Sir.' He replied.

'Take the Lieutenant and Ronan, secure the perimeter, I want to know if there are any more of those things in the area.' He ordered. Lorne nodded, looking back at Chase before exiting. Ronan followed without looking back. John glanced down at her and then at the rest of the group. 'Okay, for the moment we're gonna proceed with the belief that there aren't anymore of those things. So, Docs, get to work.' Troy, Griffen, Zalenka and Rodney merely stared at him.

'Just get back to work…? She's been torn to shreds! We need to get back to Atlantis!' Rodney exclaimed.

'That won't be necessary; I have the right equipment to deal with these injuries right here.' Carson said, applying a bandage to her arm. He looked up at the worried face. 'She's going to be fine. It looks worse than it really is.'

'Sir, we're gonna stay here with those things running around?' The Captain asked, wincing at his throbbing limb.

'Things? We're not talking plural yet, and we're also not talking about leaving until there are plural things.' John told him, inspecting his weapon before hastily holstering it and kneeling in front of Chase.

'So when we're all torn to tiny little pieces by an armada of evil alien bears – would that be the time that you say we can leave?' Rodney asked waspishly.

'How about you consider the possibility that there was only one of those things and that therefore moving the _entire_ facility because of only one is not necessary.' John said pointedly.

Rodney paused. _It took ages to set up this facility…if we moved, we'd have to start all over again…and I'd have to help with the heavy lifting._ 'No, you're right, probably just one of them…a curious animal checking out the Earthlings…'Rodney said with a falsely bright voice. Carson rolled his eyes and John ignored him completely.

Radik put a hand on Rodney's shoulder before heading to a computer, Troy and Griffin followed. Rodney lingered with a slightly worried expression on his face before shaking his head and turning away, muttering. Teyla crossed to the Captain and smiled warmly, taking his hand and inspecting his wounded leg.

'I'm afraid the Captain will have to return to Atlantis, he's got a broken ankle and there's nothing I can do for that here – except keep it elevated and give him painkillers.' Carson informed Sheppard, cleaning the blood on Chase's chest.

'Don't suppose I could have some.' Wallis said through gritted teeth.

Carson did a double take. 'Oh, I'm so sorry Captain.' He crossed over with another needle. 'Don't know what I was thinking.'

'Don't worry about it; you got your hands full.' He said, looking at Chase unconscious on her chair. Sheppard stood by her and made sure she didn't fall off.

Suddenly, Chase opened her eyes and surged forward in her chair. John immediately dropped to the floor in front of her and held her fast. She breathed heavily, eyes darting around the room. She stopped when John looked up at her with a questioning eye – a caring eye.

'You okay?' He said gently.

She looked at the others in the room and nodded. 'Yeah. You did kill it, right?'

'Mostly Ronan did the killing, but I was there.' He said with a smile.

She smiled weakly. 'Can't feel anything – which by the look of me is a good thing.' She glanced down at her lap and saw the state of her clothes.

'I've brought a collapsible table with me; it's in the main tent. I'm going to sedate you and see to some of these wounds, alright?' Carson said kindly. Chase was in no state to argue and nodded wearily.

Teyla stepped forward. 'We heard the commotion and returned as quickly as we could.'

'Thanks, I'm pretty sure if you guys hadn't shown up, I would have been that things dinner.' She paused. 'What was it? Do we have a name for it yet?'

John shook his head. 'This planet is unpopulated by humans, so I guess we get to name 'em.' He said brightly.

'Good, well, since I nearly got eaten by the damn thing, I'm calling it a pain-in-my-ass-acus…has a nice ring to it, don't you think?' She began to stand from the chair shakily and John surged forward. She put a hand on his arm and when she had got her balance, she gently pushed him away. 'I'm okay, just a little shaky.'

Carson walked back into the tent with a collapsible table and smiled, setting it up toward the corner. 'Okay, Chris, would you hop on here for me?'

Chase obliged. John and Teyla stood by each other and watched Carson fill another needle. 'This is a heavy sedative, you'll be barely conscious. It'll allow you to feel what I'm doing, but there won't be any pain.' He paused and looked to Sheppard. 'I think she should go back with the Captain and get some x-rays to check for internal bleeding, I can treat her here, but I'd rather she get some rest in the safety of Atlantis. After that, I can't see any reason why she can't come back- unless, that is, we all go home and find somewhere else to do this experiment…a place where there aren't any man-eating werewolves.' He said lightly.

John nodded. 'Yeah.' He smiled at Chase and then turned to Teyla. 'I'm gonna check on Lorne – make sure he's not being eaten by a…pain-in-my-ass-acus…' He grinned at the group and left the tent.

Lorne had promptly secured the perimeter and then marched straight back to the main tent where Carson was finishing up the last of Chase's wounds. He checked in with the Captain and then set his sights completely on the unconscious form of Christina. He looked down at her face with a guilty expression, an expression which Carson pitied.

'Not to worry Major, she'll be fine.' He said kindly. 'Up and about in no time.'

Lorne nodded, but still, something haunted his face. Carson frowned. 'What is it?'

Lorne paused, unsure whether or not to tell the good Doctor for fear that it would reach Sheppard's ears. Carson immediately sensed this and firstly, he preened at the fact Lorne thought he and Colonel Sheppard were so close, and secondly he wanted to scold the Major for thinking he might leak something told to him in confidence. 'Major, I'll keep my mouth firmly shut, I promise.'

This seemed to be good enough for Lorne, and he spoke. 'When that thing attacked, we were ordered to go out and find it, no one stayed with the civilians.' He said guiltily.

Carson looked to the floor. Questioning orders was something he would never completely understand, all he could do was quell the mans concerns, and as a Doctor, he had a great deal of experience in doing that. 'It all happened so fast, and there was no reason to even consider that the beast would sneak back into the camp, not once there were people hunting for it – it was just a dense creature, Major, a dangerous one, but a creature none the less. Besides, we're not completely helpless.' He said confidently, wrapping up some spare bandage and packing it away. Lorne stared.

'Tell that to Chase.' He stated.

Carson paused. 'Aye, I suppose, but given the situation, she handled herself pretty well, didn't she?' Carson asked light-heartedly. _Mr glass half-full, as always._

'Well? I can't believe she survived.' The Captain exclaimed, sitting up with a wince. 'Did you see the size of that bastard? I was lucky not to have my head taken off, let alone my foot.' He nodded at Chase. 'She did bloody well.'

They took a moment to look at her face as she slept – the stray blonde hairs, the high cheek bones, the curvy, pink lips –

'Yes, yes, yes! That's very nice – can you all be quiet now? I'm trying to work.' Rodney complained, throwing them looks of disgust. Lorne looked up with a frown and Carson continued packing.

Rodney, Radik, Griffen and Troy had continued the experiment throughout the morning, Rodney pushing them mercilessly. Radik had already gone through three flasks of coffee before the creature had attacked. _Anymore and I'll be awake for Christmas, New Year and Easter._ He thought bitterly.

Lorne walked forward with a slight swagger, his gun hanging over his shoulder with a relaxed position. Rodney could really push his buttons at times, and those were the times he was glad to have a very large gun by his side to intimidate the pipsqueak with. 'Okay, Doc, how long until all this is done?'

Rodney scoffed. 'Done? It's an extremely large and extremely dangerous scientific experiment, Major, it could take months to complete – if we ever complete it at all. I mean, all we're doing at the moment is setting the device up for testing and that's going to take days-' He rambled, Lorne held up a hand.

'Right.' He snapped; weary of the arrogance the man exuded. 'Don't let me keep you.'

'Well, if we could just have some silence – mh?' He said with a nasty eyeball.

Lorne glared before turning and nodding his respects to the Captain and Carson. He took one final look at Chase and left the tent. The Captain lay back down and shut his eyes whilst Carson shut his med kit, casting Rodney a weary look.

'We'll all be out of your hair soon Rodney. As soon as she's awake, I'll be taking the both of them back.' Carson stated coldly, and left the tent. Rodney glared at the exit and turned to his minions. Griffen and Troy hastily got back to work while Radik gave him a stern look over his glasses. _What is his problem?_

'What?' Rodney snapped. Radik turned back to his computer.


	7. Dating the Devil Worshipper

Chapter 7 – Dating the Devil Worshipper.

Elizabeth Weir flew into a fury. 'Why wasn't I notified of the situation immediately?' Her voice punched out of the radio with an anger making Sheppard wince.

'Well, it was only an hour ago; I didn't see that there was any immediate need. We're bringing them through soon and everything'll be fine.' He said calmly, watching the activated Star Gate shimmer with a menace. _I wonder if she can send a missile through if we dialled from this end?_

'Fine? The camp was viciously attacked by an alien creature that practically ripped apart two of our personnel, John, how is that fine?' She asked testily.

'Well, when you put it like that it's bound to sound a little-' He started.

'Bad? Terrible? Atrocious? Like a complete and utter disaster?' She yelled down the radio.

'No need to shout.' He muttered.

'Did you even think about what could have happened if it had attacked the tent where the device is stored? A possibility which is still a real threat.' She didn't give him a moment to respond. 'I'm sure I don't need to tell you Colonel that that device is extremely dangerous, you know how against it Rodney was-'

'He was only against it because it meant more work for him.' John stated incredulously. 'Not because the thing was dangerous…or at least _amazingly_ dangerous.'

'John-' She started.

'Elizabeth.' He interrupted. 'No one was killed. It was an isolated incident. We were unprepared. I can step up security, but I do not want to relocate this thing because it would take too damn long.' He said firmly.

'And you're sure that you can handle this, Colonel? I don't want any more people hurt.' She stated, just as firmly.

'Elizabeth, this is Rodney – we can handle it.' The Scientist had sighed dramatically and hit his head set when he had finally run out of patience. 'It was just a one time thing, probably a curious animal coming to check out the new neighbours. The Captain must have startled it.'

Elizabeth paused as she heard a feint defiant voice in the background. 'I didn't have a chance to startle it before it leapt out at me and clamped its fangs around my ankle.'

Rodney and John glanced round at the Captain, both of them marginally irritated by the comment. John sighed. 'We'll be fine.'

A few moments silence passed before she responded. 'Anything, even remotely menacing, anything at all, and I pull the plug.' She stated.

John nodded glancing at Rodney who looked relieved. 'Understood. Chase, Carson and Captain Wallis are coming through now. I need you to send me two security teams and some heavier artillery.'

'This is you thinking you'll be fine?' She asked testily.

'This is me taking extra precautions, don't worry.' He nodded at Carson to go through. The Scot slipped an arm under the Captain whilst Chase was escorted through by Ronan. John gave her a warm smile as she grinned weakly at him. He watched her go through. As soon as their forms had dissipated into the puddle he spoke. 'Okay, next contact in twenty four hours-'

'Make it eight.' Elizabeth ordered. And from that tone, Sheppard knew there was no negotiating.

'-eight hours…Sheppard out.' The Gate shut down and Sheppard began walking back with Rodney by his side.

'That was close – for a minute there I thought we were gonna have to pack it all up and drag it all the way back…I mean, why did we put the camp so far away, it's inconvenient.' He complained.

'It's the closest clearing Rodney, it's easier to secure the perimeter.' John stated, watching the trees.

'Oh, I see. So I have to walk all this way just because you couldn't be bothered to secure a harder camp site.' He said matter-of-factly.

John glared at him before picking up the pace, Rodney partly jogging to keep up.

Elizabeth greeted the injured on the other side and escorted them to the infirmary. She watched Carson make them more comfortable whilst Ronan leant by the side, brooding.

Chase seemed agitated by all of the devices she was hooked up to. The x-rays and CAT scans, the drip and various amounts of blood being taken – she seemed to think the fuss was unnecessary.

'No really…I, I don't need…it's just a…I'm fine!' She insisted as Carson injected her with another drug.

'This is to clear the body of any infection – who knows what that beast has been doing.' Carson told her.

'You mean apart from slicing me open to look at my insides.' She said flippantly, and paused as Carson seemed to think of something else. He hurried away to get another needle. 'Joke! It was just a joke.' Carson took some of her blood, shaking his head.

'It could have had rabies, or any other alien disease.' He walked away and Chase rolled her eyes, sinking onto her pillow.

'Am I done being the human pin cushion? I'm fine.' She repeated.

'Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't exactly look fine.' Elizabeth informed her kindly, a slight grin on her face.

'Well, from what I saw, and also from the state of the food tent not to mention what I see in front of me –' He leant over her and checked her pulse. '- it was one hell of a battle. I think I should commend you – the Captain certainly does.'

He nodded at Wallis on the other side of the room, sleeping.

'You stayed to get the med kit instead of running. It took courage.' Ronan stated, fixing her with one of this dark stares. Chase shut her eyes.

'Courage wasn't a factor – just the will to survive.' She said harshly. 'I thought it was you.' She said quietly. 'Or Radik, or John.' She sat up with a wince. 'I mean, how stupid could I be? I knew it wasn't, and I still walked toward the sound. I was lucky my stupidity didn't get me killed.'

'Being a little hard on yourself aren't you? You risked your life to get that med kit – I didn't see stupidity of any kind, just bravery.' Carson complimented. Chase ground her teeth.

'You're extremely frustrating.' She stated with a sigh.

'For giving you compliments you deserve?' He asked with a smile.

'For applying bandages to areas that don't need them.' She felt his hands on her hip, gently taping a square pad to a small scratch. 'The compliments I can just about handle.'

Carson blushed and looked up at Elizabeth before hurrying over to the supply shelf to fetch another bandage. Elizabeth smiled and glanced at Ronan. He watched Chase with a wonder as well as a coldness. _All these men and only one woman…it was bound to create friction. What happened to the simple working relationship? _She paused as she saw him pad over to her bedside and sit in the chair; she smiled at him as he sat. Elizabeth could have sworn that he smiled in return. If only for a moment.

'Ronan.' Elizabeth said, the Satedan looking up at her. 'What's your assessment of the camp? Should I withdraw them?'

Ronan took only a moment to think on the question. 'No. Sheppard's careful, and the creature seemed to be alone. We keep to ourselves, we should be fine.'

Chase sat up. 'I'm not military, but I would recommend that everyone be armed and in pairs at all times. If just one of those things manages to sneak up on someone whilst they're unarmed and alone, then it's game over.'

Elizabeth nodded, considering their words. _Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?_

'Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?' Rodney moaned. Radik rolled his eyes.

'What are you talking about?' He said testily.

'Troy made the coffee, and I'm looking at it – but it doesn't look like anything I'd want to put in my mouth.' He stated.

Night had fallen on the camp and the extra security had come with all its extras of bigger guns and more grenades. The scientists were being escorted from place to place, but they rarely left the tent. The military teams took shifts to guard the scientists and then the perimeter. When the Scientists slept, the military could begin taking shifts to guard and sleep. And so, much resentment and nasty mutterings ensued when the scientists saw one 'o' clock with only the interest for more coffee.

John had just come off the guard shift and marched straight past the guard detail on the tent door and into the tent with a look of venom. He took a moment to adjust to the bright lights before locating Mckay and striding over.

'How much longer Rodney?' He asked waspishly.

'Oh god…every time one of you ask me that, the answer does not change. Days weeks, months – I don't know!' He exclaimed.

'How much longer until you go to bed?' He asked again, putting a little more threat into the question.

Rodney noted the tone and his hackles rose. 'I don't know. When we're ready.' As if on cue, Radik yawned. Rodney glared. 'We're making some progress.' He stated, turning back to the Ancient Pad in his hand.

'Can't you make progress tomorrow?' John asked firmly. 'It'll all be here and you'll all be well rested.'

'Actually, I could do with some-' Radik began.

'Later.' Rodney said defiantly.

'Now.' John said loudly. Rodney stared at him with menace. 'Do you know how boring it is to stand around waiting for a threat to appear for hours on end? It is tiring, and my guys can't even think about sleep until all of your guys are in bed. So – ' He snatched the Pad out of his hands and placed it on the desk. '- put all the toys away and get some sleep.'

'These aren't just toys-' Rodney began indignantly.

'Rodney.' John warned.

'Well, I'm not even-'

'Rodney.' John glared at him angrily and Rodney seemed to shrink under his gaze.

'Fine. Bed.' He slumped and left the tent, allowing the others to switch off the equipment for him before going.

The next two days were spent in much the same manner. The scientists were restless and the military were bored. They woke early, drank mass amounts of coffee and argued constantly, then went to bed late. There had been no sign of any "Bearwolves," as Lorne had affectionately named them, and one or two of the guard detail were even pining for some of them to attack the camp and shake things up.

John sipped the last of his morning coffee and glanced at his watch - 10:34 am – at least on this planet. He rose and smoothed the back of his neck, picking up his gun and vest before walking out into the daylight. The heat was almost unbearable. The sun beamed onto the camp without mercy, beating them with its hot rays. If it hadn't been for the slight wind, he was sure that they would have left the planet long ago – the device be damned. He headed over to the main tent with the intention of getting a status report from Rodney. His mind wandered onto the earlier conversation with Weir. Chase and Wallis were doing well, and apparently Chase had been so adamant in returning that she was being released today against Carson's medical opinion, which meant she and Ronan would be coming back that afternoon. _Poor Doc probably didn't want to let her out of sight. And I can see why. _Carson would remain on Atlantis to see to Wallis. John smiled slightly, even though he knew he shouldn't.

He glanced up at the sun before realising that Ronan had been alone with her for three days and was now coming back with her. A small knot tightened in his stomach and he scolded himself. _I'm jealous? That is just…not useful. I can't believe I'm jealous._

He gladly ducked into the shade of the main tent and squinted to find Mckay looking surprisingly happy – _disturbingly happy. Must be a good thing…I think. _Rodney spotted him and hurried across, turning the Ancient Pad over in his hand and showing the screen to Sheppard, Radik close on his heels with the same beaming expression.

'We've managed to calibrate the sensors according to the device's data and I think the delta waves that it issues can be recorded efficiently by our new programme, so we know exactly how the device reacts to the correlating data that we input – ' He said quickly.

John put up a hand and nursed the newly formed migraine. Mckay nodded emphatically.

'Yes, yes, yes – what I'm saying is…' He glanced back at Radik with a large grin. 'We're ready.'

They both beamed at him. John stared. _Drawing a blank._ 'Good.'

Rodney sighed impatiently. 'We're ready to start the tests; all we've been doing up to now is making sure that we know how to work it and also how to make it…not…explode.' He paused. 'And we know – so we can start the tests.'

John nodded with an expressionless face. 'Good, well, start the tests then.'

The scientists wilted. 'That's it?' Rodney asked sulkily. 'No "Well done, you're a genius?"'

John gave him a half smile. 'No, that comes at the end when you've got the thing working.'

Rodney's eyes narrowed. 'We need more coffee.' He stated, and turned back to his laptop.

John nodded with a sour expression, forcing a smile. 'Right away, Doctor.' He walked forwards, hands in his pockets. 'By the way, Ronan and Chris are coming back this afternoon. You'll need to get them caught up.'

Rodney rolled his eyes. 'Oh really. I thought she was going to stay in Atlantis and not be here anymore…you know, because of the thing that happened.' He said dismissively.

John gave him a cold glare, noting the disapproving look Radik gave him. 'You mean when she got attacked by a man eating alien creature? Well, she got better and wants to come back and work and I think that when she gets here, you could be a little nicer.'

Rodney didn't look up. 'And why would I do that? It's not like she's a chirpy little angel to me.' He stood, placing a hand on his hip. 'It's like I'm the only one who hasn't been affected by her powers of seductive evilness.'

John folded his arms. 'Rodney.' He said coldly. 'Give it a rest and get back to work.'

John gave him a bracing look and left. Rodney frowned before turning to Zalenka.

'What's he so touchy for?'

Radik rolled his eyes and turned to his computer screen.

John spent the afternoon fuming in the heat of the day. Rodney was an idiot, that was common knowledge, but the man never seemed to take a break from being an idiot. And to make things worse, he felt hostile toward Ronan as well. This was all happening because of Chase, but it wasn't as though he could blame her. It wasn't her fault that she looked the way she did, it wasn't her fault that she had throngs of guys lining up just to get her attention. It was, however, her fault for indulging them in the belief that each of them had a chance. _She's such a tease._

He scolded himself every time the topic crossed his mind. _I mean, she works with you! What would it be like to be in a relationship with her while we were fighting off the Wraith from destroying…well – everything! You'd worry about her, you'd get distracted and then you'd die, and she'd die and people would be sad. That is what the future holds and it's not pretty. _He paused, and then scolded himself again. _Okay drama queen, it wouldn't be that bad, but it would be seriously weird._

John stared at the ground as an image flew into his head. Oncoming Wraith, his team fighting them off, his weapon raised punching the enemy with bullets. He runs out of ammo and Chase, standing at his side, hands him another magazine.

'There you go honey.' She smiles, her green eyes adoring his manly arms and spectacular aim.

'Thanks baby.' He grins, clipping the magazine into the gun and firing once more whilst she strokes his arm tenderly.

John shook his head. _Yeah right. _He continued walking. Night was approaching and Ronan and Chris were due. He was heading to the Gate to meet them and instead of concentrating on his surroundings; he was busy thinking of how to welcome her back – memorably.

'Colonel!'

'Colonel!'

John paused and turned, he had not yet left the camps perimeter and Rodney was walking swiftly toward him with Lorne and Radik close behind.

'Sir!' Lorne said firmly. 'You're leaving without an escort?'

John frowned. 'I think I can walk to the Gate without you holding my hand, Major.'

'That's not what I …sir, I didn't mean…we were ordered to go anywhere on the planet in pairs.' He said lamely.

John nodded. 'Well, when I get Chris and Ronan, there'll be three of us.' He said, too bitterly for Rodney's liking. The scientist narrowed his eyes.

'Oh, so that's where you're going.' He jeered.

'What do you want Rodney?' John said wearily, walking away.

They followed. 'I wanted to tell you that I've started the tests, they're going well, but just to warn you that we can't move the device until we're finished with it – okay? I tried to contact you over the radio, but for some unknown reason, you didn't respond-'

'Wait, we can't move it. Why?' John stopped and turned with a furrowed brow.

'Because we've turned it on.' He said simply. 'It's emitting radiation in a make shift container that _can_ contain it, but the container can move so it won't contain the radiation it emits if we were to disassemble the container in the case of an emergency where we would evacuate the camp.' Rodney said quickly. John stared, and suddenly turned to Zalenka.

'Huh?'

Radik opened his mouth but Rodney continued. 'We can't simply shut the device down and turn off the radiation, even if there were no power the radiation levels would remain for weeks. If we were to evacuate, we couldn't leave it unguarded, so the Daedalus would have to beam it into space.' Rodney paused to breathe. 'Until we find the efficient way of using the power it emits and the way in which to control it, we can't move it – and we certainly can't leave it on it's own encase of an overload.'

John rubbed his eyes and sighed. Lorne stepped up. 'We can't leave it until they find how to work it, otherwise the experiments a bust and the device has to be destroyed.'

John clenched his teeth. 'Thank you, Major.' He continued walking. 'Get back to the camp.'

'Hold on.' Rodney called.

John didn't stop. 'I'm already late Rodney, it can wait.'

'Right, wouldn't want to be late for the girlfriend.' He said flippantly. John paused, and turned slowly.

Rodney froze for only a moment, the livid brown eyes beating him down causing him to feel slightly afraid. John could feel the colour drain from his face, and the heat rising under the collar of his jacket. 'Excuse me?'

Lorne and Radik smelled danger and watched with anxiety. Rodney folded his arms. 'Oh please, that woman has every man on this planet and in Atlantis wrapped around her little finger. I see it in you! The boyish swagger – like a male bird showing off its feathers to attract the female's attention.'

John walked forward. 'Be careful Rodney, I'd hate for something bad to happen.'

'Like what? You gonna shoot me…over her? God, it's like a disease – Radik's been daydreaming all day.' He said agitatedly.

It was Radik's turn to be livid. 'I have not been day dreaming all day-'

'Oh okay, so you were what, staring into space for the fun of it, and not thinking about what she would look like naked?' He asked waspishly.

Lorne's hackles rose. 'Mckay, watch it.'

'Watch what? You're exactly the same! Something needs to be said about this, and apparently, I'm the only man to do it!' He said self-importantly.

Lorne glared. 'Oh yeah, Doctor Mckay taking control, like she's gonna notice a little jerk like you.'

'Excuse me?' He said quietly. 'I am not a jerk and I am also in no way trying to attract that devil woman! Is she attractive? Yes. Would I date her? Hell no.'

John snarled at him. 'Like she's actually jump at the chance to date a ringworm like you, Mckay. Something tells me she likes a guy with a little charm and some manners.'

'Not to mention someone with people skills and who does not go looking for fights just to prove himself.' Radik added, his voice shaking with anger.

Rodney growled. 'I am an excellent candidate for a date. That woman probably doesn't enjoy dating geniuses as much as she does eating the heads of small children whilst polishing her shrine full of offerings for Satan worship!' He spat.

'That woman doesn't enjoy listening to her team mates fight over and insult her.'

The group turned to see Chase and Ronan paused in their entrance to the camp. Ronan looked intimidating and unimpressed while Chase looked positively scary. She marched forward, her green eyes burning holes in each of them. 'Especially when she wouldn't even consider dating any of them because they were so selfish and frustrating!' She said angrily, her eyes falling finally on John.

'Well, hallelujah! I'm saved.' Rodney sang nastily. 'Because I wouldn't even dream of dating you.'

'And I wouldn't go near you with a barge pole, Mckay, so I guess we're both lucky.' She said furiously. Rodney shut his mouth with a venomous expression.

Chase glared at them once more before shaking her head at John and walking swiftly to the camp. Ronan, without looking at any of them, joined her soundlessly.

'Oh like you're better you towering ape!' Rodney called. The Satedan stopped. 'He thinks he's better, just because he wasn't here for this discussion! Well, if he had been, she would have yelled at him too!' Rodney said loudly. Ronan turned with a savage look on his face, but what surprised them most was the small grin creeping onto his face.

John felt the hot guilt in the pit of his stomach rise into a fury. He stepped forward with an eyebrow raised. 'Ronan, quit being so smug, it's not like you've got anything to be truly happy about.'

Ronan cocked his head and looked over his shoulder to see Chase's figure in the distance. John narrowed his eyes. _Out of ear shot._ Ronan shrugged. 'It looks pretty good to me.' He grinned. 'Maybe next time you'll do this somewhere more private, you know, where Chris and I can walk in and have her mad at you and then confide in me.' He smiled and walked away, a definite swagger to his tall figure.

John scowled at his back and then looked to Rodney. 'You! Get back to the camp and stay in your tent!' He yelled angrily.

Rodney raised his hands. 'Happy to oblige. Who would want to be out here with you guys anyway.' Rodney stormed back with Zalenka a few steps behind. Lorne lingered.

John glared at him. 'Well? Get moving!' He barked.

Lorne paused a moment, looking rebellious, and then started the walk back. He paused and turned quickly. 'Sir, we have a problem.'

John almost took his head off, he had meant to when he opened his mouth, but instead he found the anger unsettling – especially since he was about to direct it at one of his own guys. _Not his fault, not his fault._ He put his hands on his hips, willing his fury to cool down. 'No kidding.' He looked up and saw the Major looking to the ground uncertainly. 'We'll sort it Major – we've handled Wraith for god sake, we can handle a woman.'

Lorne nodded and walked back leaving John to his private scolding as the night drew on.


	8. Not So Silent Night

Chapter 8 – Not So Silent Night.

Troy and Griffen had immediately sensed the tension plaguing the group when they had returned. It had spoiled their welcome back plans for Chase. They had saved her a tin of pineapple rings which they thought could be caramelised on a sauce pan, but she went straight to the tent to sleep, Ronan not far behind.

Rodney and Radik had marched into the tent in silence and sat down to their work. The only thing Mckay had said was in the form of an order for more coffee specifically not made by Troy. Radik had obliged, but returned twenty minutes later without the coffee and mumbled about forgetting it. Rodney had only glared, commented that he was 'useless' and continued on.

They hadn't seen Lorne and Sheppard until they came off the guard shift and were clambering into their camp beds as the next shift awoke and left to take over. Teyla, who had been helping the military types secure the perimeter, was not part of Sheppard's shift and so she rarely spoke to him, but she could sense that there was something deeply wrong.

The Athosian crossed to his bed before leaving the tent for the night shift and kneeled by him, watching him as he slept.

'What?'

Teyla was surprised for a moment, but should have known that he was not yet asleep. There was too much on his mind for sleep to come that easily. His brown eyes looked up at her uneasy face and he rolled onto his side with a sigh. 'Teyla, you've got the expression of a kicked puppy. What did I do?'

Teyla smiled weakly. 'Nothing.'

He noted her odd stance and the way she anxiously looked at him. 'Right.' He nodded. 'Look, we could do this now, but then we could do it in the morning too, so – '

'Yes, of course.' She whispered, and stood. 'But…what ever is going on, it must be resolved quickly.' She said firmly, looking over the tent of sleeping bodies before looking down at him. She left and John sighed.

He was annoyed. _Nice guilt trip – how am I supposed to sleep now?_

John heard movement and looked over to the other end of the tent. A curvy figure rose and slipped a jacket on, hesitating whilst looking down at the bed at their side and then sneaking out into the night. John rolled his eyes. _I guess I'm not meant to sleep._

He rose quietly, and with the stealth learned from years with the military, he followed her. The orange planet was high in the sky and the breeze was gently blowing. He saw a light on in the food tent and headed for it.

Chase sat with her head on the table and a cup of coffee in her hands before her. She hadn't heard Sheppard enter, so he hovered, unsure of how to let her know he was there and was looking to talk. _God I hate this part…_

'Colonel Sheppard?'

John was startled to see Griffen and Troy at the other end of the tent, standing and looking at him with surprise. Griffen had deep blue eyes that expressed his uncomfortable feelings perfectly. He glanced at Troy who picked up on it and nodded his blonde head. 'Well, we were just heading out. Good night.' He picked his coffee up off the table, and John noted a tattoo around his wrist, a thin wreath of leaves. A thought flitted across his mind about how scientists weren't supposed to have tattoos. He then scolded himself for the stereotype and focussed on the real issue. He watched Troy smile weakly and leave with Griffen close on his heels.

John turned to Chase who had leant back in her chair; arms folded and giving him one of the nastiest looks she could muster at this time of the night. John couldn't help but feel drawn to her at that moment. He had no idea why. She looked as though she would like nothing more than to chop him into tiny pieces and feed him to the bearwolves – but he couldn't help but look at her pretty face…those high cheekbones drawn back with sourness, her blonde hair with a ringlet dangling on her cheek, and her green eyes smouldering…

'Hey.' He said lamely. She didn't answer, but continued to glare. 'So, what you saw today was…not good, and also entirely Rodney's fault.' He explained. Chase still didn't respond. _Oh, you're killing me. _He headed for the chair opposite and slipped into it, bringing his hands up to explain his words. 'Okay, so what we all said was a little tactless, but if you think about it, it was really very complimentary.'

She frowned at him as though he wore a dunce hat. 'How?'

'Well, we were all wondering about the type of guy that would make you happy because we cared.' He said with a smile.

'You were all wondering which one of you I would prefer to screw.' She said coldly. 'And I think I made my feelings on that matter quite clear.'

John nodded and looked to his hands for a moment. 'Yes, you did.'

They sat in silence for a moment, looking at the person opposite them or looking away. John raised his eyebrows but said nothing. _Okay, awkward. At least there's no yelling…_

He paused and watched her, the scratches on her arms and legs as well as the gashes on her face. Yet, she was sitting here, hating him, and she was fine. 'I'm glad that you're back on your feet.' He paused, not knowing where to go next. 'You look good.'

Chase growled and shook her head, standing and making for the exit. John stood and blocked her path, forcing her to step back.

'Hey!' She complained.

'Well, I try to be nice and you go all…teenager on me!' He exclaimed angrily. _Can she not see me being all nice and caring?_

'Teenager?' She echoed furiously.

'Yeah! I say that I'm happy to see you after you get injured, and you up and huff like a dramatic sixteen year old girl!' He shoved his hands on his hips and stared her down in the dimmed light of the electrical lantern. Her eyes searched his face as though there were insects crawling all over him.

'Well what am I supposed to say to "You look good"? Because you're either gawking at my body or trying to make nice with me after acting like such an ass today!' She yelled, an arm thrown in the air to outside the tent where the argument took place. John shifted his weight.

'Ya could just take it at face value as a statement of actual relief that you're in one piece, and by the way, I was defending you, okay? McKay was the one being an ass!' He explained heatedly.

'Defending me? Encase you didn't notice, I don't need a knight in shining flipping armour to come to my rescue. I can handle myself just fine!' Her hands pointed at her own body and the gashes that covered it, but as she did so, the unzipped jacket she wore hung open and revealed the silk pyjamas she had worn the other night. John forgot his anger for a moment as he watched her graceful body in the light material, the strappy top and shorts left little to his imagination – which was the way he liked it. Chase immediately looked down and gasped, clutching the coat shut and looking up at him with venom. John was momentarily taken back by her hostility and felt a wave of prickly anger sweep through him.

'Don't worry about it, it's a cold night, it could happen to any woman.' He said pointedly with an evil grin on his face.

Chase's eyes widened with disbelief, then they narrowed and she took a step closer. She stood on her tiptoes to get into his face and clenched her jaw.

'You are infuriating!' She seethed.

'I'm infuriating?'

'Mh-mh.' She nodded quickly.

'Oh really? Am I the one that leads on every guy she comes in contact with?'

'I do not-'

'Oh yes you do.' He pushed his face into hers. 'And you know it. Why else would you wear that…' He paused to picture her pyjamas again. '…in a tent full of men?'

Chase had to think for a second and Sheppard knew he had stumbled onto a point that he could beat her on. 'These are my pyjamas.'

'And it never occurred to you that sleeping in a tent with men all over would urge you to take pyjamas which actually cover your body?' He said triumphantly, his brown eyes playing over her face. Chase looked to the floor.

'Well, I thought that men on such a prestigious assignment as Atlantis would all be mature and professional enough to allow me to wear whatever I damn well please – and there are not men all over, don't be so dramatic!' She scolded. John grinned.

'Oh yeah, how many women are there on this planet? Mh? And how many men? How many?' Chase looked to the floor and John advanced. 'Come on genius, how many women?'

Chase fiddled with her hands frustratedly and John leapt at the chance. 'One. One woman, and that is Teyla. And I'm sure that she doesn't mind what you wear – but the _fourteen _men in that tent all know exactly what you wear and all of them wish you either dressed differently, or that you didn't wear such a damn big coat over the top if it – myself included.' He said heatedly. He paused to breathe and Chase looked up with her arms folded.

'What I wear is not an appropriate topic to discuss.' She said, her voice slightly higher than it was before.

'Well, what you wear isn't appropriate full stop.' He shot back.

Chase avoided his eyes and allowed hers to wander his torso. A thought occurred to her. 'Well how is what you wear appropriate?' She said shrilly. John did a double take.

'This is uniform. You can't criticise uniform.' He stated, looking down at himself.

'You can when it's several sizes to small for you.' She said confidently. 'The tight black shirt to make alien women swoon – can you spell pathetic? Because apparently you can wear it.'

John laughed in disbelief. 'This shirt is not too tight.' He paused. 'And why do you believe that wearing a tight shirt would make alien women swoon unless the body under that shirt were slightly more than "fairly manly"? Huh?' He folded his arms and Chase stuck out her chin defiantly. 'Unless that is, this shirt makes _you_ swoon ?'

'Oh don't be ridiculous.' She snapped.

'No, no. A couple days ago you told me that my arms were "fairly manly," and now I have the power to make women feint – you're playing games.' He pointed at her with a wicked smile and she rubbed her eyes, sighing.

'You're such a child.'

'A child with a torso that makes you "swoon".' He repeated mercilessly.

'Oh please, your torso is…average.' She said lamely.

John unfolded his arms and gave her a spin. 'Does average make girls feint?' Chase shook her head with a tired smile. 'You just said it!' He grinned. Chase looked at him with a slight curve to her lips but said nothing. 'What, you don't think I have a nice torso?' He asked delicately. 'Alright, well, let me show you.' He said playfully, but to Chase's horror Sheppard's arms went to the hem of his shirt and started pulling with a purpose. '…because I know that showing you is the only way-'

'-no!' She leapt forward and put her hands on his forearms as they lifted the shirt toward his head. John's arms were holding the shirt under his chin, and he raised his eyebrows.

'No?'

Chase cocked her head and smiled. 'Put your shirt back on Sheppard.' She said lightly, her eyes falling to see his almost fully naked torso. _Nummy… _John grinned.

'Yes, ma'am.' He lowered the shirt and Chase almost stopped his hands from doing so. Instead she let them fall with her hands as he lowered the material. His dog tags hit his chest with a tinkle of metal and she smiled at him.

'And people say I'm a tease.' She said, her eyes studying his handsome face. He grinned. She looked over the attractive lines of his face, the feint stubble he barely kept away, the hair with its gravity-defying coolness – and finally the eyes, brown and soft at the same time as intense and charming. He pursed his lips. Chase knew all to well that John Sheppard was all man. It was kinda hard to miss.

'They do?' He asked with a fake surprise. 'How could they think such a thing? You're not a tease at all, no sir.' John watched her smile up at him and noticed her bright green eyes looking him over. Her bow lips curved seductively into a pout at his comment, and he suddenly became acutely aware of her hands on his arms – not to mention that the coat had fallen open again – only this time she didn't attempt to close it.

'Okay.' She sighed, glancing to the floor.

John frowned. 'Okay what?'

'I forgive you.' She stated. John eyed her.

'For what?'

'For saying what you did.' She said simply. John narrowed his eyes at her, hearing a playful tone. 'Plus the shirt has some magical powers which make me feel inclined to forgive…' She said jokingly, her hands stroking his forearm as they slid down to gently clasp his hands.

John smiled mischievously. 'So it is the torso that makes you swoon.' He stated, moving closer, his hands cupping her forearms, sliding up as her hands caressed his shoulders.

'No not the torso, the shirt, it's something about black cotton…' She said matter-of-factly and broke out into a huge smile.

John shook his head with a large grin and dropped his hand to the small of her back and pulled her in forcefully, slamming his mouth on hers. Her arms wound round his neck as they kissed hungrily, her fingers straying into his hair…

'Colonel! Colonel Sheppard!' A voice shrieked.

They broke apart suddenly, but he still held her. 'You gotta be kidding me.' He muttered, and looked for the source of the voice.

Griffen tore into the tent, shaking and sweating, covered in dirt. His eyes searched them wildly as his hand flew madly in a certain direction. 'Troy! It got Troy!'

'What?' He said incredulously, walking toward the man with an urgency. Chase went immediately to his side and put a hand on his arm. Griffen merely looked at her with eyes as large as the planet shining down on them.

'Thomas, what happened?' She asked firmly.

'The, the, the thing! The bear beast, wolf monster, uh – it took him! Into the forest!' He stammered.

John walked out of the tent and the two followed. 'Where?'

'Over there, by those trees! He said he heard something, saw a face, thought it was a native human or something….and then it leapt out and grabbed him! By the head! Just dragged him into the forest…I should have gone after-'

'You did the right thing, Griffen.' He ducked into the tent with the camp beds and almost banged into Ronan.

'What is it?' He asked. 'I heard something.'

John looked over and saw that the tent was stirring. _Good._ 'Griffen was taken by a bearwolf thing. I want full gear, teams of two searching the perimeter, stay in radio contact at all times.' He ordered, heading for his camp bed and picking up his vest.

'Hold on.' Chase stuttered. 'This thing isn't going to stay in the area; it'll go back to its home – away from us. And there's no sort of nest or cave in the perimeter that's been searched – you have to go further out.' She told him.

John frowned. 'How do you know what it'll do?'

'Because it's an animal, a big ass animal with food it won't want to share or be interrupted eating, it'll go far out to avoid us and its own kind.' Chase explained through the chaos of movement.

'I believe this is true.' Teyla nodded. 'We must explore further.'

'We need to move fast, it can cover ground quicker than us, even with the scientist.' Ronan told them. The group surged out into the dead of night. Nine soldiers and three scientists with Ronan and Teyla, all carrying weapons and ready to move out.

John turned to the group whilst checking the ammo in his berretta. 'Alright, Radik, Griffen, Chase, stay here and-'

The scientists started to complain when John held up a hand and they fell silent. 'Where's Rodney?'

The group paused, and then the not so distant sound of snoring answered the question. John shook his head and looked at Chase. 'Wake him up and get them in the tent. Turn the light off and maintain radio contact. You hear anything – you contact me, do you understand?'

Griffen and Radik nodded but Chase looked livid. 'Surely we'd be more help finding Troy-?'

'I need you guys to make sure that the device is secure. I don't want to explode whilst I'm looking for this guy, okay?' He explained gently. Lorne organised the groups and they sped off in different directions whilst Ronan and Teyla lingered, waiting for John.

'What if it comes back? Like it did before?' Radik asked with a frown.

Chase shook her head. 'It's already got its meal, we won't see it – or at least we won't see that particular beast back here.' John stepped forward and put his hand on her arm. Ronan saw the move and frowned, looking to the ground with malice.

'Comforting.' Radik replied. Griffen gulped.

'Exactly why I need you here.' John said gently, he looked at his watch quickly. 'Look, Weir's gonna dial the gate in half an hour, when she does - radio for help and the Daedalus, if we can't find him, maybe their life signs detector can.' He paused. 'Do not leave that tent, got it?' He started walking backwards.

Chase nodded. 'Yeah. Make sure you come back with all your limbs attached!' She called.

'Plan to!' He replied, and then sped of into the darkness with the Athosian by his side, Ronan lingered and nodded his head before following.

Chase lingered for a moment before taking the two by the arm and pushing them toward the main tent. 'I'll get Rodney.' She breathed.

They sped off in their directions. Chase tore into the tent and ran to the end toward the snoring lump; she dropped to her knees and pushed him hard. Rodney snorted and sat up half way, eyes closed. 'Wh? Who's tha? Whaz goin on?'

'Rodney get up! We have a situation.' She said harshly.

'Chase? Oh, go away, no time for jokes…' He lay back down and Chase glared at him before grabbing the cover of his sleeping bag and ripping it off of him. Rodney bolted up.

'Get up!' She shrieked.

'Why!' He yelled, his tousled hair and crazy eyes unappealing at this time of night.

'Griffen has been taken by one of those creatures and everyone has gone to find him!' She yelled in return.

Rodney stood shakily, half awake and worried. 'What? Just now?'

'Just now, Radik and Griffen are in the main tent, we've got to protect the device.' Rodney grabbed a jacket and slowly pushed one shoe onto his foot.

'Shouldn't we go to find him too?' He asked uncertainly.

'_Move, McKay_!' She roared.

'Okay! Yelling not helping!' He growled.

He pushed the other shoe on his foot and Chase pushed him outside.

Radik and Griffen had turned the lights off and were holding guns on them as soon as they ducked into the tent. Rodney held up his hands. 'Whoa! It's just us!'

Radik breathed and lowered the gun. Rodney glared at him. 'I'm sorry, we heard noises and-'

'And what, you thought shooting me would help?' Rodney squeaked.

'I've always thought that shooting you would help.' Radik said frustratedly.

'Guys.' Chase scolded and then turned to Griffen. 'Radio?'

Griffen fumbled with his gun and then fetched a small black radio from the table across from him, handing it to Chase. She plopped it onto the table in front of them. 'We can hear what's going on.' She told them. Slowly, they gathered around the table, Griffen and Radik sitting on chairs and staring at the radio. The silence filled them with fear.

'What was he doing!?' Chase exclaimed suddenly, making them jump.

'Don't…do that!' Rodney snapped. Chase scowled at him.

'Scare you did I?' She asked nastily.

'Yes!' He said equally as nasty. 'It is the middle of the night, one of my guys has been taken by an alien monster and there is no one here to protect us, and I forgot to put socks on, so now my feet are cold – all in all, not a good night for me.'

Chase shook her head and turned to Griffen. 'What did you say? He saw a face?'

Griffen nodded. 'But I didn't see anything. He got all excited, you know, first contact. He was talking about it all the way from Earth.' He said sadly.

'Griffen.' Chase said. 'They'll find him.'

The scientist nodded, but looked unconvinced. _Funny, because I don't feel all that convinced either._ She started pacing.

'Quit it, it's distracting.' Rodney demanded. 'How am I supposed to think with you doing that?'

'Think about what McKay? What you're gonna have for breakfast?' She asked loudly. Rodney's hackles rose.

'Excuse me?' He said venomously.

'You're excused – no, wait, I'm excused.' She headed for the exit.

Rodney leapt out of his seat. 'Where do you think you're going? We were told to stay here!'

'Yeah, well, what I'm told and what usually happens are two different things.' She stated.

'You can't go out there.' Radik exclaimed worriedly. 'If one of those things finds you-'

'Then I'll shoot it.' She turned on them. Radik and Griffen looked positively ill but Rodney had his arms folded defiantly. 'Look, when I get attacked by that thing, I got close – really close – and I could smell…I don't know, perfume? It must be a wild flower that grows here. I remember smelling the same scent on the way back from the Gate, maybe its lair is near there…'

'And you'll what? Be the big hero and save the day? Nu-uh.' Rodney stepped forward. 'I don't think so.'

'You're going to stop me?' She held her gun aloft.

Rodney stuck out his chin and looked slightly uncomfortable. 'I could.'

Chase scowled at him and turned.

'Fine! Then I'm coming with you!' He jogged to her side after grabbing Griffens side arm and another radio from his desk.

'What?' She said incredulously.

Rodney looked less than brave, but his stubborn nature always succeeded. 'No one goes out alone, right? Everyone in pairs. I'm your pair.' He stated nervously.

'I can go alone.' She stated seriously.

He shook his head. 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no! No more glory for you, Xena. Now let's go.' He said forcefully. 'And by the way, if I get ripped apart, I am so going to haunt you.' He said shakily. His brown eyes like that of a child. Chase looked back at Radik and Griffen.

'I look forward to it.' She said sarcastically. 'When Weir calls-'

'I now what to do.' Radik told her. 'I still think this is a bad idea.'

'Well, it's not a good idea.' Rodney argued.

'The more people out there looking for Troy, the better his chances are.' Chase told them.

'Right, and he is under my command, so…' Rodney stated. They stared, waiting for the rest. 'So I should be the one to find him.' He tried to sound brave, but the waver in his voice failed him. 'Let's go.' He said pitifully, side arm at the ready.

Rodney looked at her expectantly and Chase extended an arm. 'Oh, ladies first.'

Rodney's face soured. 'Cute.' He snuck out of the tent with Chase close behind. She gave them a brave smile before following, leaving Radik and Griffen in the darkness, the radio sat in front of them.

Griffen looked back at the device in its container, it glowed an eerie blue, the radiation it was emitting being held back by the Ancients glass. He turned to Radik.

'This is not good.'

Radik nodded. 'No.' He took the safety off his gun. 'It's not.'

John kept low and moved fast, the darkness made it difficult to stay quiet. He had no idea what he was stepping on, all he could do was avoid trees and hope he didn't fall into a ditch. Ronan was slightly ahead, doing the best he could also. Teyla was at his side.

'Ronan.' He said softly. 'Any luck?'

The Satedan glanced back coldly. 'Tracking at night? Close to impossible.'

'Close?' Teyla prodded. Ronan nodded and they kept moving.

'Ow!' Rodney complained loudly.

'Would you be quiet?' Chase scolded harshly.

'I got scratched by a tree! I have very delicate skin.' He stated.

'Let's see how delicate your skin is when one of those things digs its claws into you.' She whispered to him as they moved up the path. 'Which it will if you keep being so loud, the whole damn forest'll come looking for us.'

'Well I'm sorry if I have a low threshold for pain.' He said waspishly, keeping his voice to a loud whisper.

Chase had taken to moving low and quick, using the trees to propel herself forward. Rodney was huffing and puffing behind, standing tall and whining loudly.

'What are you wearing?' He asked incredulously, seeing her bare legs under the coat. 'And trainers?!'

'Rodney.' She scolded.

'Right, silence. Things that tear me apart.' He said quietly, breathing hard.

They continued their search for Troy in the midst of the silent night.


	9. Flowers and Blood

Chapter 9 – Flowers and Blood.

They continued on the path toward the Gate and Chase paused, fishing a pocket torch out of her jacket and switching it on. Rodney leapt forward and knocked it out of her hand before scrambling to the ground to pick it up and switch it off.

'Are you nuts? A light in the middle of the dark dark forest where there are evil carnivorous animals? Are you looking to be a midnight snack?' He asked nastily. In the shadows of the night, he could see her put her hands on her hips, and knew, even though he could not see, that she was giving him a disapproving look.

'McKay, look behind you.' She said simply.

'Why?' He squeaked, horrified. 'Is it one of those things?'

Chase made a frustrated sound and brushed past him. 'No. It's the flower I was talking about; I've been able to smell it for the last minute or so. I think its lair must be in here somewhere.'

Rodney paused. 'Good. Very good. This would be the point where we radio Sheppard, right…?' He asked hopefully.

'Troy doesn't have time to wait for Sheppard to come all the way over here. Let's go.' She said quietly.

Rodney froze. 'Is he really that far away?' He said pitifully.

Chase rolled her eyes in the darkness and began to jog gently through the forest, Rodney keeping close to her.

'How will we find our way back?' He said uncertainly. 'I mean, do you have a compass, or a, one of those transmitter thingies?'

'We have the stars McKay, and they'll do fine.' Chase replied swiftly, picking up the pace. 'I'm sure Radik said something about caves near the Gate, or at least some sort of rock structure.' She muttered.

'Whoa, hold on a second! The stars? We're not sea captains navigating with celestial bodies-' He said harshly.

'No, we're two _astrophysicist's_ navigating with celestial bodies.' Chase corrected him.

'Oh, well, yeah…' Rodney reluctantly fell silent.

The forest was dark and it made him unbelievably nervous. Every tree looked like a figure waiting to attack. Rodney yelped as he stumbled over something. Chase turned and quickly stopped him from falling flat on his face.

'You alright?'

'Yeah…this was a bad idea.' He whimpered. 'We can't fight this thing.'

'Bit late to be saying that now, Rodney.' She started jogging again. Chase felt fear, but it was flooded with concern for Troy. He was a good man, and a friend. She had come to know him rather well onboard the Daedalus, and knew him well enough to know that he didn't deserve this fate. 'The trees are thinning.' She whispered.

'What? Is that a good thing?' Rodney asked.

The trees were indeed further apart, and there was grass on the ground and not dirt. White flowers surrounded them and the smell made their heads ache. Chase paused as they jogged into a small clearing. A stream sat to the right rushing soothingly whilst the stars shone onto the long grass. Further to the left was the beginning of caves – or more likely large rocks set at an odd angle. Chase frowned. The formation was odd, but it was not something she could debate with herself now. She slowly moved along the tree line, keeping her eyes on the caves.

'You better hope there aren't any snakes in this long grass, because I'm betting your bare ankles look pretty appetising.' Rodney warned her.

'Yes thank you Rodney.' She said angrily.

'Just saying-' He retorted.

'Well say something useful.' She scolded. 'Like why you are such a bastard to me.'

Rodney fell silent, loathing her in the dark. Chase looked over her shoulder.

'Well?'

'Well what?'

'Why don't you like me?'

Rodney scoffed. 'I don't not like you, I just…can't stand you is all.'

'Oh thank you, I feel so much better now.' She said nastily.

'Well, what am I supposed to say?' He snapped.

'The truth.' She said pointedly. 'You knew I was coming and you decided to hate me before I even spoke a word to you.' She paused. 'Why?'

'Isn't there a better time and place to discuss this?' He snapped.

'Now is as good a time as any, McKay.' She said venomously.

Rodney hesitated. He had a reason. A damn good reason – one which he would have thought she knew very well, and the fact that she had the audacity to poke fun at him just made him as mad as hell. He was about to respond with his merciless honesty when Chase tripped and fell to the floor with a muffled crash, the grass and flowers breaking her fall. Rodney reached down to help her up.

'Quick! There really could be snakes in here.' He helped her into a kneeling position. 'What exactly did you fall over anyway?' He looked to the ground and saw only dark grass. Chase shook her head, nursing a small scratch on her cheek.

'It was soft.' She commented, her hand searched the ground.

'Snakes.' Rodney chimed.

'Should fear me.' Chase barked.

She wrinkled her nose. 'Has it been raining?'

Rodney laughed at the stupid question. 'No. Why?'

'The ground is damp…' She paused and picked up an oddly shaped object from the ground. McKay immediately saw her hand start shaking as she fumbled to snatch the torch from his pocket. She switched it on and she and McKay both yelped. The object dropped to the floor and she immediately shone the light on it.

A severed hand with a thin wreath tattoo sat on the ground surrounded by blood. Chase looked at her hands and her legs and saw them covered in the red, sticky substance.

'Oh god.' Rodney groaned.

'Troy.' She whispered. 'We have to find him.' She moved toward the rocks, leaving the cover of the trees.

'What?' He snatched her back. 'Hello!? Severed hand! Sitting right there! He is dead!'

'Maybe not!' She exclaimed. 'Maybe it hasn't eaten him, maybe it injured him and he's being saved for later, or he got away-' She said desperately.

'Wishful thinking, and usually I'm all for hope of escaping death – sort of – but right now, it's not a possibility for Troy.' He said forcefully. 'There's too much blood.'

Chase felt his panicked hands gripping her arms tightly and knew that he was right. She hated him for being right, and hated this planet for killing Troy.

Suddenly a scratching sound caught their attention and they both looked toward the rock formation with wide eyes. A lumbering form slunk out into the starlight and growled. They dropped to the ground and switched off the light.

'We so need to get out of here.' Rodney said desperately.

'No need to tell me twice.' She breathed in agreement. She nodded to the tree line and whispered for him to be low and quick. She snatched the radio from her coat pocket and flipped the switch. 'Uh, John? Sheppard this is Chase.' She whispered. The radio crackled.

'Yeah, what's your status?' It said wearily. Usually Sheppard's voice would have made her tingle, but right now it made her panic because it was so loud. _No! Oh god! It'll hear us! _

'Sssh!' Rodney said crazily.

'Yeah, uh, be quiet please.' She said quickly, trying to be polite. 'McKay and I sort of snuck out to find Troy and are somewhere near the Gate-'

'_You did what_?' His voice roared.

'Shut up! Shut up!' She said desperately, nervously glancing back at the creature. 'Scold me later! Listen, we found him – or a piece of him, he's dead. And the thing is very close by so be quiet.' She growled. 'We're heading back now.'

'Hold on a second.'

John signalled for Teyla and Ronan to stop and wait. He stayed low and leant against a tree. 'That's not possible.'

The radio crackled. 'What do you mean?'

'Ronan is tracking this thing right now and we are no where near the Gate.' He informed them quietly.

Chase glanced nervously at Rodney as he took the radio from her. 'Sheppard, we found a hand, okay, an actual human hand and it led us to the creature that killed it – uh, him. You must be tracking another one.'

John raised his eyebrows and sighed. 'Another – there's another one?'

'There could be hundreds in the area! We have no clue.' The scientists stated, and then stopped as Chase slapped him hard in the chest. 'Ow!'

'Rodney!' She said urgently, pointing at the rock formation.

The beast was no longer there.

Rodney whimpered. 'Not good. Uh, Sheppard we gotta go-'

Chase slapped a hand on his mouth and froze. Rodney became aware of the large presence to their right. They tried their best to sink into the grass without being seen as it sniffed the ground where they had been moments ago and nudged something. Rodney retched as it picked up the hand by the fingers and started crunching. Chase nodded for them to move.

Rodney made no objection. His limbs felt heavy and clumsy from the jogging, and from the fear. He heard Chase gently moving behind him as they crept on all fours. _God I hope there are no snakes…it would just make this experience complete._

They made the tree line and partially stood, slinking behind a large bush. The creature seemed to follow uncertainly, as though it had a shaky radar. They moved again, further along the bushes until they were pressed against a large rock. Trapped. _Like rats! Like tiny, disgusting, disease-carrying rodents! _Rodney looked frantically for an exit when Chase tapped him sharply on the arm; he followed her fearful gaze to the other side of their bush as the figure rose and moved closer.

John was about to ask them what was going on when he heard Chase whisper 'Blood…Rodney, it can smell the blood.' She sounded frightened. John felt a knot tie in his stomach, and then he felt a chaotic panic as he heard shots fired and then a scuffle.

'Christina!' He yelled down the radio. It crackled and did not respond. He gave Teyla and Ronan a grim look and then ran toward the Star Gate.

Teyla fell in her haste to follow and was helped up by Ronan before they sped on. She felt a pain in her hand and knew that it was bleeding, but her concern for Rodney and Chris was far greater than the pain.

'I can't believe you shot it!' Rodney screamed as they raced through the forest.

'It gave us an exit didn't it?!' She screamed back defensively.

They hopped past the trees, swinging around them, running as fast as they possibly could.

'I think shooting it only made it mad!' Rodney said desperately.

'What gives you that idea?' She replied and screamed as the beast drew nearer. 'Hurry!'

It was fast, but the trees stopped it from going to its full speed, for which she was thankful. It wasn't as skilled at dodging which gave them a little distance – but not much.

'Next time, don't shoot the angry, man-eating animal – okay? Especially when we've only got these ridiculously small guns!' Rodney screeched.

'And just let it eat us? Thanks, McKay, but I'd rather not be a meal!' She scolded him and hung back slightly to grab his arm and make him move faster.

John ran with only a vague sense of direction, whipping past the trees in the dead of the night, hoping that he would reach them in time. He could hear Teyla and Ronan pounding after him, and felt the urge to move faster.

'Sheppard!' Ronan bellowed. 'We're being hunted!' Teyla did a double take feeling an immediate guilt as she put two and two together.

'My hand was cut! It is tracking the scent of my blood!' Teyla called, glancing at her hand as they ran.

John groaned and glanced back. There was a figure loping beside them, large and four legged. _Oh crap, we don't have time for this._

'Keep moving!'

'Should we not deal with this one first?' Teyla asked, casting the creature a wicked glare as it drew closer to her side. She kept her distance with the trees in between, but she knew that it was aiming for her, the smell of her blood reeling it in.

Ronan drew his weapon and fired a few shots, the red blasting through the night, invading the silence of the darkness. He crossed behind Teyla and ran to her other side, putting himself between her and the creature. It snarled, long fangs glinting in the starlight.

John looked back once more and knew that it had to be dealt with otherwise either Teyla or Ronan could be hurt, and he couldn't have that, not now. He growled low in his throat and came to a sudden stop, raising his weapon and firing bullets into the beast as it continued to run. Bark and leaves flew into the air as the bullets punched into them; the beast slowed and stumbled, crashing to the floor with a pitiful squeal.

Ronan and Teyla arrived at his side and stared at the beast lying on the ground. He gave them a look and continued running.

Teyla raised an eyebrow at Ronan. 'I believe he is angry.'

Ronan cocked his head. 'So am I. Its kill was mine.' He said sulkily.

Teyla gave him a look of disapproval and followed John, Ronan just behind. They had only gone a few steps when the Athosian sensed a presence – not Wraith, no, that would make the whole ordeal complete. But it was something very menacing in its intentions. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Ronan, and further behind in the depths of the forest she saw figures – many figures, tearing across the ground toward them.

Ronan seeing her expression of disbelief looked behind also and growled his frustration. 'More!'

John shook his head. 'What?!'

'Many more!' Teyla called. If possible, through their exhaustion and fear, they ran harder.

Chase stumbled onto the path and halted Rodney to steer him in the direction of the forest on the other side. They swung into the trees and turned, waiting only a moment to see the beast tear out into the open, sniffing the air to find its quarry. It turned its ugly snout to the ground and began to follow the scent of blood.

Chase pushed him to move along the trees, away from the camp. Rodney moved, but seriously didn't want to. 'I can't…run…anymore. I can't…' He puffed. Chris had to admit that he looked pretty green, and that she wasn't feeling brilliant herself. 'Where…we going…?'

'Away.' She whispered.

'Maybe you should take your clothes off?' Rodney suggested. Chase threw him a dirty look. 'So it can't follow, the scent, you know what I mean…'

Chase had a sudden idea and threw her coat off, bounding into the forest a little way and then chucking it as far as it would go, bounding back and then forcing Rodney to jog. He stumbled, and the stitch in her side wasn't helping. 'It could give us some time.'

Rodney looked down at her suddenly and gaped. Her little strappy top and shorts were all she wore with her trainers, and her blonde unkempt hair hung loose around her shoulders. 'Rodney.' She scolded. 'Would you pay attention? Death, mayhem, any of it ringing a bell?'

Rodney nodded his head frustratedly. 'Believe me I'm paying attention.' He took off his own coat to reveal a long sleeved pyjama and thrust it at her. 'Here, cover yourself up – it's distracting.' He snapped. Chase took the coat and slipped it on. She squealed as the pocket vibrated and Rodney leapt into the air. 'God! What!?'

Chase took his arm and kept him moving.

'Why would you scream like that! You gave me a heart attack, I actually think my heart stopped – do you know how dangerous that is?' He said viciously.

Chase pulled an object out of her pocket. It crackled. 'Colonel Sheppard, please respond?'

Rodney did a double take. 'That's Elizabeth.'

Chase flipped the switch. 'Doctor Weir, this is Chase. We have a situation, those animals came back. Troy is dead-'

'What-?' The voice was disbelieving.

'McKay and I are-' Chase began before Rodney snatched the radio from her hands.

'We're in trouble! We're being hunted! We need you to send some soldiers with some really big weapons because we are out of ammo and Sheppard is on the other side of the camp doing god knows what!' He roared. Chase slapped him and urged him to keep moving.

The radio crackled. 'Weir…this is Sheppard.' John was out of breath. 'Uh…back up would be good right about now. All teams retreat to the Gate, we are leaving.' His voice was strained. 'Let's move people.'

'Understood. I'll send help.' Weir called.

The radio crackled and fell silent. Rodney blew a sigh of relief. 'Oh thank god.'

'We're not out of the woods yet – no pun intended.' Chase breathed.

They ran with a renewed hope toward the Gate. Minutes later, they heard the roar of the wormhole as it opened, could see the shining puddle through the trees – they tore out into the open just as four soldiers marched down the steps, weapons raised.

'Major Davies!' Rodney called. One of the soldiers jogged down to meet them.

He was about to greet them when his weapon flew up and he roared at them to get down. Chase grabbed Rodney's arm and pulled him to the ground as four P90's ripped through the night and the howl of a dieing beast sounded.

Chase and Rodney looked over their shoulder to see the creature only a few feet away, lying still on the ground. Rodney rolled onto his back and started breathing hard. 'Oh god. Again, with the near death…not fair. Home, sleep and eat – not moving for a month.' Chase shook her head and then placed it on the cold ground.

'You alright ma'am?' Davies offered a hand and she took it shakily. He eyed her long legs covered in blood. She nodded.

'Not mine.' She breathed.

'I'm okay, by the way.' Rodney pointed an arm to the sky. 'Thanks for asking.'

'Where's Colonel Sheppard?' The Major asked.

'Coming. They all are. They were scouting the area of the camp; they must have gone pretty far.' She informed him.

'They'll be fine – big strapping soldiers with big weapons…they'll be fine.' Rodney said lazily. Chase frowned.

'Radik and Griffen aren't strapping soldiers.' She reached for her radio with worry and flipped the switch. 'Radik, Griffen, this is Chase, do you copy?'

She paused. There was no response. 'Radik, are you there?' Still no response. She turned to the group. 'Something's wrong. We have to go find them.'

Rodney sat bolt upright. 'What? No we don't! They're probably too busy running to hear the radio, that's all.'

'You really want to assume that? Especially after what happened to Troy?' Chase frowned at him. She looked up at the Major. He nodded and turned to his team.

'Secure the Gate.' He ordered and turned to Chase. 'Lead me to the camp.'

They were about to go when McKay stood shakily and surged forward with a stumble. 'Wait! I'm coming too.'

'Rodney…' Chase began.

'They are my men…I'm coming.' He said defiantly, his chin jutting out.

Chase nodded with a tired expression and grabbed his arm. They started what seemed the long journey back to the camp.

John, Ronan and Teyla tore into the camp and did not stop running. John turned to them. 'Head back to the Gate.' He ran to the main tent.

'John!' Teyla called. They lingered for a moment before running after him.

Ronan saw something to his right, figures in the corner of his eye and he swiftly aimed his weapon at them.

'Ronan!'

It was Chase.

He frowned. 'What are you doing-?'

'-here?' Sheppard turned back.

'Radik and Griffen weren't responding.' She breathed.

'Colonel, we have the Gate secured sir.' The Major informed him.

'What is going on?' Radik ducked out of the tent with Griffen close behind.

'What? They're here? What was the point in running all that way?' Rodney whined, putting his hands on his knees.

'My god, are you alright?' Radik asked seriously.

Sheppard followed his gaze to Chase's blood stained legs. 'Not mine.' She repeated with a guilty look. 'Why didn't you respond?' She pointed to the radio in his hand.

'We have heard nothing.' He replied with a frown.

Sheppard marched forward, plucked the radio from his hand and flipped the switch. 'That's because it was turned off.'

'Oh.' Radik said sheepishly, he and Griffen giving the group apologetic looks.

'Okay.' John sighed. 'Everyone to the Gate, we're about to have lots of company.'

'No kidding, we shot three of those things on the way over here.' Rodney breathed, and then paused at the frown the Major gave him. 'He..he shot three of those things…'

'There are many more on the way.' Teyla told him urgently. 'We must leave now.'

John nodded. 'Go. Major, get them to the Gate!' He jogged to the main tent.

Chase and Rodney glanced at each other before following, knowing exactly what he would do. Major Davies physically moved Zalenka and Griffen but had no luck in shifting Teyla or Ronan.

'Ma'am, it's time to go.' He ordered. Teyla

'I'll be right behind you.' John called before ducking into the main tent, Chase and Rodney close behind.

Teyla didn't believe it, but Sheppard was stubborn, so there was no changing his mind. Ronan raised his eyebrows. Reluctantly, they left the camp area and headed for the Gate.

_Please review! Would like to know what you think and how it's going!_


	10. A Good Word

Chapter 10 – A Good Word.

John immediately scanned the tent for movement of any kind, and then looked over the equipment in the tent, the eerie light of the device bathing them in a blue glow. He raised his weapon as Chase and Rodney followed him in. 'What are you guys doing?'

'Well, what are you doing?' Rodney asked defensively.

John lowered his weapon. 'Get to the Gate.'

'While you what…go down with the ship, so to speak?' Rodney snapped, moving to the device's interface. Chase picked up an Ancient pad, clicked the screen and handed it to him. Rodney pressed a few buttons on the interface and the device stopped glowing. 'It's off, but it can't be moved, the radiation is far too dangerous.' He paused. 'I don't suppose there's any chance they'll leave the camp alone?' He asked hopefully.

'No.' Chase answered. 'Our scent is all over the camp, they'll tear it apart.'

Rodney whimpered. 'Great. If the device is tampered with, it could cause an overload.'

'How bad?' John asked.

'The neighbouring planets.' Rodney informed him. 'Incinerated.'

'If we're lucky.' Chase added. Rodney nodded.

Suddenly a low growl made them turn to the entrance of the tent. Chase felt her stomach fall through the floor at the familiar sound. The large creature slinked inside; it was indeed massive, covered in fur with a tiny tufted tail. John eyed it with a small smile. _Must be the punch line to every joke, poor fella_. Its small black eyes pinned them with hunger. Rodney's face fell.

'Good doggy, nice doggy…now, sit!' The creature snarled.

'Yeah, okay, now let's call it Fido and give it a flea bath.' John scolded. _Wierdo_.

'Well, at least I tried.' Rodney squeaked as it slinked further into the tent.

Sheppard raised his weapon quickly; he had the animal in his sights. They slowly crept back, Chase staying close to John.

'Ugh, déjà vu.' She muttered. _Man I hate these things, where's dog control when you need them? _She could see the concentration on John's face, and then she saw the creatures shoulders wriggle, ready for the pounce. 'John.' She said nervously.

He fired, bullets punching into the beast. Fur and blood flew as it fell to the ground still snarling at them. John approached with his weapon still raised, and put a few more bullets in it for good measure.

'You got it!' Rodney yelled. 'It's dead!' He paused looking down at it. 'It is dead, yes?'

'Rodney, I can see the floor through its abdomen – it's dead.' Chase told him, her nose scrunched at the gruesome sight.

'Wonderful. Do we have a plan?' Rodney asked hopefully. 'Because a plan would be useful, we could co ordinate our thoughts and follow a focused and well thought through guide-'

'The plan is to not die.' John stated.

'Excellent plan, very good – but I was looking for details as to how we would go about doing that.' Rodney prodded. 'I mean, are we just gonna leave the device here?'

'We don't really have a choice.' Chase stated. 'But then those things will undoubtedly break in here and destroy – everything! We leave, and this device will definitely explode.'

'Okay, so we don't leave.' Sheppard suggested.

'Uh, no, bad plan, not leaving involves fighting off those creatures, and we don't have P90's. Not to mention the fact that you must be almost out of bullets.' Rodney reminded him. John nodded reluctantly.

'Well, let's think about it this way. We leave, we live, the device is destroyed and we move on. Or we stay and we die and the device is destroyed anyway when we're overpowered.' Chase said quickly. 'Pick one.'

'The first one, most definitely the first.' Rodney nodded emphatically.

'Yeah, that sounds like a plan.' John agreed. 'Ready to do some major running?'

Chase appeared more than ready to leave, but McKay looked fearful. 'Running? I don't think I can…I've been running all night and I think I've done well considering-'

'Well, how about you stay here to protect the device?' John suggested firmly. Rodney paused.

'So, running?' He said with a renewed fervour.

Chase raised an eyebrow and they followed the Colonel out of the tent. Rodney slammed into the back of John when he halted suddenly.

'Ow.' He said angrily and then a wave of sheer terror swept through him, his eyes wide.

The camp was swarmed with the beasts, sniffing and scratching at the ground, wrestling with each other. Their number was so great it seemed that the ground moved. The odour was a mixture of perfume and rotten flesh, and the sound was a loud buzzing of snarls and howls. Several of them had noticed the three meals on legs standing in front of them and were beginning to creep toward them with a purpose.

'How much ammo do you have?' John asked, passing Rodney his berretta. Chase looked at the one in her hand and felt her heart beat impossibly fast.

'Only one extra clip. You?'

'Three.' He replied, eyes never leaving the mass of carnivores.

'Okay, so new plan, yes?' Rodney said, a distinctive shake to his voice.

'No, I think the plan is pretty much the same.' John whispered.

'Running?' Chase asked.

'Running.' John confirmed, and then they sped off in the direction of the Gate, the animals flocking after them, tearing each other to shreds just to reach their prey.

'How in the hell did reconnaissance miss an army of…bearwolves!' Rodney shrieked.

'No clue, but I think I'll be having a word with them to explain exactly what reconnaissance entails.' John shouted.

John turned and stood momentarily, releasing bullets into the swarm chasing them in a huge arc. The sound more than the fallen dead stalled them and John ran with the others, unclipping his radio and bringing it to his mouth.

'Major Lorne! Get our people through the Gate, do not wait for us, I repeat, get through and do not wait!' He yelled, not waiting for a response.

The three tore down the path, shooting various creatures as they leapt at them from all sides.

'Oh my God!' Rodney screamed, covering his head as one of them lauched at him from the dark.

John was so busy helping him that he did not see the one behind him, slinking stealthily. It leapt onto his back just as he killed the one attacking McKay. Chase shouted his name and then fired what was left in her gun and threw it aside. The beast stumbled off John's back and she snatched his P90 from the ground, filling the beast with bullets.

As soon as it fell, she leant down to help him up. John growled through the pain, his back having been torn to shreds, and allowed Chase to support him for a few steps before he pushed her forward.

McKay shouted, jumping and spinning before retrieving an Ancient Pad from his Pyjama pocket. It made an odd noise and his eyes went wide as he gaped at the screen. 'Oh my god.'

'No, no more oh my gods, Rodney.' John scolded through clenched teeth.

'What is it?' Chase asked worriedly.

'They broke the container.' He croaked.

Chase hung her head. John looked baffled.

'And?' He barked.

'And we are now being exposed to a massive amount of radiation, we have to move.' Chase urged.

They started running again, Rodney puffing hard. 'We have maybe three minutes to get to the Gate before the damage is irreversible.' He yelled.

John felt different he knew that much – hot, as though all the air from the cold night had dissipated. He looked over and saw Chase and Rodney sweating profusely. _Not good… _'Three minutes?' He asked incredulously.

'If we're lucky.' Chase replied, and then gasped, coming to an abrupt halt. John and Rodney did the same the moment they saw their path ahead.

Eight of the creatures stood between them, and what was left of the path to the Gate. Rodney shook his head.

'No, no, no, no, no, no, we don't have time for this. The amount of radiation we've already been exposed to is dangerous enough – ' Rodney said worriedly.

'Yes Rodney, we can feel it.' Chase said through clenched teeth, loathing the beasts in front of her. _Practically as stubborn as those damn cockroaches in my basement, they just won't go away…_

'Well, pretty soon, we'll feel a hell of a lot more including our organs flooding with our own liquids as well as painful lesions…that is, if we survive these gruesome care bears.' Rodney groaned, wiping his forehead, his eyes never leaving the advancing animals.

'Well, at least he's thinking about the future.' Chase said positively, stepping back.

'How about a future minus the getting eaten and the flooded organs?' John suggested, feeling his body shake with the immense heat he felt.

'That's a plan.' Chase stated. 'Dinner is also a plan.'

John smiled, his weapon still raised. 'Dinner is a very good plan.'

'Yes, food in general is good, so can we please leave now.' He said forcefully.

John fired shots and the animals backed up. He hit two of them in the paw and they whimpered, limping further back. _Not enough bullets to kill all of them, maybe just enough to scare them…_

They started walking, keeping close to John as the beasts made a path for them, watching them and snarling, saliva dripping to the ground.

'At least someone finds you yummy, McKay.' Chase whispered as they crept into the middle with animals on either side, all of them sneaking forward with care.

'Ha, funny, yummy…' McKay gulped, not hearing her words through the blood pounding in his ears. He jumped suddenly and pulled out the Ancient Pad again. The beasts were startled suddenly and seemed to shrink back, but then growled at McKay with more menace. John kept them moving but didn't know what was happening with McKay.

'What?' He whispered.

'What are these idiots doing?' He muttered, looking up angrily. 'The device has just received a massive power surge.'

'They must have knocked it off the pedestal, the wires it was attached to would have sent it a massive jolt as they were separated.' Chase told him.

'Yeah, well, in forty seconds the device will overload with the new and unstable power and destroy this planet, including us.' He snapped, giving the animals a death glare. 'That's why I hate dogs, they mess everything up! And…! They drool!'

'Well, at least we don't have to worry about radiation poisoning.' John smiled thinly, just as they emerged from the other side of the line of creatures.

'We'll never make it to the Gate in forty seconds, not with these things on our tails.' Chase whispered. 'Grenades?'

'Used them all in the forest - there were a lot more than what you can see.' John informed her. He fired three bullets into the ground and the beasts stepped back again.

'I'm out.' He whispered. McKay and Chase stared at him. He kept the weapon raised, hoping it would be enough.

The beasts drew closer. The night was dark and the radiation was hot, stifling them, even though their fear did it well enough for them. Rodney looked up the path and jumped. 'Sheppard!'

John glanced over and saw more emerge out of the forest. There was no way they could escape now. He turned back to the ones in front and saw at least thirty more trotting down the path from the camp, leaping over one and other to reach them.

'I've never been so popular.' Chase croaked. John lowered his weapon and smiled at her.

'I find that hard to believe.' He grinned. She grinned back.

Rodney drew closer to the two, his eyes glued to the Pad. 'Fifteen seconds…oh my god…I don't…I just can't…' He paused and looked up at them. 'It was – interesting.' He said lamely.

John nodded and patted him on the shoulder. 'Yeah, likewise.'

'Interesting would not have been the word I would have used.' Chase said confidently. 'But it's a good one.' She smiled warmly.

The beasts sensed a change and knew their moment had come. They prepared, moving in, their fangs ready to taste them.

McKay tried to smile in return but his face seemed to falter, it faded, and a great flash of light took them.

The last thing Chase thought was that the explosion was painless and quick…


	11. Unrelenting Cotton

Epilogue.

Chapter 11 – Unrelenting Cotton.

The last thing Chase thought was that the explosion was painless and quick…

…and kind of early…

Chase opened her eyes and saw John and Rodney in front of her, both of them looking confused.

'Are we dead?' Rodney asked uncertainly.

'I don't feel overly dead.' Chase replied.

'I thought being dead would be…different.' John commented, looking up and then around.

'Let's all hope that you don't have time to find out for years to come, Colonel.'

Chase turned to see Colonel Caldwell stand from his chair. 'Welcome aboard the Daedalus.' He greeted.

Chase broke out into a wide smile and took in the surroundings of the bridge – the smiling faces, the living people…

'I love this ship.' She said loudly.

'Now that is what I call good timing.' Rodney said joyously and then looked feint, throwing the Ancient Pad in his face and looking up at them with glassy eyes. 'We had three seconds.'

'That's what I call _great_ timing.' John nodded. 'Thank you.'

'Not a problem.' Caldwell stepped forward. 'Doctor Weir wanted us to keep a watchful eye over you; she sent us a few hours ago. She radioed a few minutes ago and apprised us of the situation and we beamed you up as soon as we jumped out of hyperspace.' He told them. 'We jumped again the moment you were aboard.' He gave Rodney a look. 'Apparently the right thing to do.'

'Oh, you have no idea, the Daedalus would have been obliterated by the overload-' He began.

'And yet here we are, alive, breathing – ' John smiled.

' - and bleeding all over my bridge.' Caldwell observed. All three of them were treading blood, their own or someone else's all over the floor. 'Why don't you head to the infirmary and get cleaned up…and changed.' He eyed Chase's outfit. 'It'll take a few hours to return to Atlantis.'

'Return to Atlantis…beautiful words.' Rodney sighed, trudging out of the bridge wearily.

John stepped forward. 'Did Lorne and his team…?'

'They all made it, Colonel.' He paused and nodded. 'It's done.'

'Amen to that.' Chase laughed tiredly, wiping the grime from her head. 'Shower.' She said desperately. 'Sounds so very good right about now.'

'It sounds…excellent.' John nodded enthusiastically with a wicked grin. Caldwell raised his eyebrows and John's smile disappeared, and was replaced by an innocent raised eyebrow. 'Because of the dirt and blood…' Caldwell narrowed his eyes and John smiled. 'Infirmary, right.'

All three of them had been taken care of in the infirmary. Their hurts seen to and their needs to wash. The rest of the trip home had been spent sleeping, dreamless and danger free aboard the Daedalus. Rodney had managed to mumble something about the excellent quality of the ship before slipping off into snoring. John grinned at Chase who smiled widely in return, both agreeing that he had a good point.

Elizabeth had been overjoyed at the news of their safe return. The rest of the team shared her relief and awaited their arrival back to Atlantis.

Elizabeth had begun the usual paperwork and difficult letters to family about the death of their loved one, made all the more difficult by the fact that Troy had been with them less than a week, and most of it had been spent on another world.

The Daedalus arrived and the three were transferred to the Infirmary to be constantly pestered by Carson who kept them in for three days to rest and recuperate from their ordeal. Their exposure to the radiation, although dangerous, had not been long enough to result in long term pain and then death, for which Rodney was glad to hear.

The days passed with mostly sleeping and eating, throwing things at McKay either when he snored loudly or just when Sheppard felt like it, and then ended in much complaining to be let free. Carson had reluctantly let them go and took his time, particularly with Chase, to tell them that he would be there if they needed anything and to return later that day for a check up, even though the day was practically over. They had returned to their quarters to wash and relax in peace.

The next day found Chase walking down the halls in her stilettos and long black trousers with a green blouse. Her long blonde hair was bouncing around her shoulders with a healthy sheen, made all the more shiny by the look of excitement in her eyes as she read the Ancient Pad she had clutched in her hand. She turned the corner into the lab and bumped into McKay.

'Oh! Rodney, I'm sorry! I didn't see you…' She smiled. He nodded, looking disappointed.

'I was just leaving.' He said, edging toward the door. 'I could hear the heels coming for miles.'

'You were leaving because I was coming?' She said firmly.

'No.' He stated.

Chase was unconvinced. 'Then I guess I would have absolutely no chance in asking if I could join you on this mission to explore the world with the holographic technology?' She asked with folded arms. Rodney frowned.

'How did you know about that? I thought only I knew-' He began, brown eyes trying to recall whether or not he had told her.

'Elizabeth filled me in, gave me the initial research you came up with.' She waved the Pad. 'I was talking with her this morning.'

Rodney folded his arms defensively. 'Oh! You had a briefing about our time on the evil planet – or the now rubble and space dust?' He paused, giving her a venomous look. 'Wonderful.' He brushed past.

'Rodney.' Chase snapped. 'What is your-'

'What did you tell her? Mh? That it was McKay that screwed up again? That it was me who got Troy killed and that you saved the day with your ridiculous heroics? Well let me tell you something-'

'No, I didn't.' She stated harshly. 'I told her the truth.'

Rodney paused.

'That you had nothing to do with Troy's death and that the explosion of the device was inevitable.' She cocked her head. 'Why did you think that I would say different?' She asked softly.

Rodney looked to the floor, avoiding her eyes. 'Uh, no reason…just, you know, a hunch, what with all the…thingies….so I need to-' He tried to dart past her again but she stuck out her hand, slamming it into the frame to bar him from the exit. 'Uh, excuse me?'

'No, not until you tell me your deal.' She stated firmly, giving him a steely eye. 'We started a conversation in the forest, and I think now is the time to finish it.'

'And that conversation would be…?' He said with a frown.

'I asked you why you were so hostile toward me.' She reminded him bluntly.

'Oh, well that…hardly relevant.' He muttered.

'It's relevant to me Rodney, especially when you make me feel so small.' She said, pinning him with her big green eyes. Rodney drooped slightly under her watchful gaze and then tensed.

'You know why.' He snapped. Chase looked blank. 'Oh please! I've known for months! Maybe the others haven't heard, but I have!' He said knowingly, his voice loud and cruel. 'I knew your name before you even came here because you were pegged as the one to replace me!'

Chase did a double take. 'Replace you?' She spluttered.

'Yeah, mh mh, like you didn't know. And I don't appreciate the act either, it's not very professional. Okay, so I screwed up once, like a year ago with one thing, and someone got hurt-' Chase was about to speak, but Rodney continued. '-okay, someone died. So the big boys upstairs thought that I was so incompetent, well if I was so incompetent then why did it take them so long to find you?' He said triumphantly. 'Not as smart as they thought, finding someone to fill my enormously intelligent shoes.' He took a massive breath and turned away, launching into it again. 'The device we discovered was too enticing not to try and make it work, and I am a scientist, making things work is what I do. And the military were all for it! A power source so vast it could defeat the Wraith – it was supposed to be worth it, right? But then it broke, and the solar system kinda got destroyed and I got all the blame!' He turned to her. 'And I should have, it was my fault, but it's not fair that the years of good deeds should be erased by that one mistake, and it is not fair that they send you without even telling the others first!'

Rodney looked livid, upset, frightened and lost – ready to explode under the pressure and the secrets he had been keeping to himself for so long. He looked to the floor, rubbing his head.

'And then I went and did exactly the same thing on a smaller scale. Power device, a failure, a dead colleague and a massive explosion.' He plopped onto a stool. 'It's a wonder I wasn't fired the moment I stepped through the Gate.' He sulked.

Chase watched him for a few seconds with eyes of pity and wonder. McKay noted her silence and raised an inviting hand. 'Go ahead, gloat, criticise. It's your right as head scientist. Although I should warn you that Zalenka can get a little mouthy, he needs a kick every so often…and, and the small Chinese woman always brings liquids near to the lab equipment, I've been trying for the past year to make her stop but she doesn't listen – oh! And in the event that the ZPM is depleted and we're forced to switch to back up generators, the console on the North Pier needs a manual input, damage in previous years – courtesy of Sheppard- means that you can't upload data direct from the control room, but I have been working on a way to rectify that problem – you can have my notes…' He turned to his desk and Chase put a hand on his arm. He looked up with a depressed expression and Chase smiled.

'Rodney, I am not here to take your job…and as far as I know, no one is coming to take your job.' She said softly, a slight smile on her face.

'Your not…and they're not?' He asked quietly. 'But I heard…people said, and your name came up, plus your credentials are pretty…and my mistakes haven't exactly been small…'

'Rodney, you've been an amazing asset to Atlantis. You've saved lives a number of times and there is no way that the so called "boys upstairs" are going to replace you when you're doing such a wonderful job.' She said reassuringly. Rodney smiled weakly. 'You didn't think that asking me would have been a good idea?' She asked, eyebrow raised. Rodney started to splutter again. 'Never mind. Where exactly did you hear that I would become your replacement?'

Rodney mumbled under his breath and folded his arms. Chase narrowed his eyes at him.

'Sorry?' She asked sternly.

Rodney huffed. 'Kavanaugh told me.' He said grumpily. 'He said that because of my blunders I was being replaced by a Doctor Christina Chase, I thought it was a joke until I read a file with your credentials-' He said defensively.

'Kavanaugh?' She said incredulously. 'You believed that little viper?' She stuck her hands on her hips and shook her head. 'I take it back calling you an amazing asset – you're an idiot.'

Rodney's hackles immediately rose. 'There you go again, calling the boss an idiot!' He yelled. 'You know, if I really am in charge, you and I have to get something clear-' He said menacingly.

'Oh please, I'll never listen to you when you are listening to little turds like Kavanaugh.' She snapped.

'I did not _listen_ exactly because he only _hinted_, and I would never listen to anyone let alone Kavanaugh because I know practically everything there is to know in my line of work-' Rodney said confidently.

'What? The Science of Sarcasm and Bad Dressing?' She shot back. Rodney glared before quickly looking down at his clothes. 'Look, what it boils down to Rodney is that I am here to work.'

'For me.' He stated.

'…and that you and I have to learn to respect each other because we work together.'

'With me as your boss and you as my subordinate.' He added. Chase narrowed her eyes at him.

'The point is, if we're going to work together, we need to build trust. Everything that either one of us has ever said or done should be…erased.' She said slowly, wanting him to understand.

'Erased? Erased how?' He asked confusedly.

'By starting over.' She smiled and laid the Pad on the desk, extending her arm for him to shake. 'Doctor Christina Chase, people call me Chris. I enjoy rock climbing, cooking and I am in no way here to replace you.' She grinned. Rodney stared.

'Seriously?' He asked quietly.

'Rodney.' She snapped, the illusion broken for only a moment. He clasped her hand wearily.

'Doctor Rodney McKay, head Scientist. I enjoy computer games, beating the Wraith and …well…science.' He said lamely, and then nodded slowly through the awkwardness. 'Welcome aboard.'

Chase smiled and they released each others hands. 'Okay.'

Rodney nodded, looking slightly more positive. 'Okay.' There was a pause. 'Well, good, I'm glad that's over. I hate awkwardness and hostility, and since we're now all friendly I have no reservations in telling you that since you're not here to steal my job I can now be attracted to you.' He said with a wide grin. 'And believe me; the amount of restraint I have shown over the last couple of days is pretty remarkable.' He chuckled.

Chase stared. 'Thanks Rodney, well done.'

Rodney looked extremely cheerful and bounced on the balls of his feet. 'Ah! Elizabeth! We were just reconciling our differences and putting the past into…well, the past.' He said happily as Weir walked into the room.

Her green eyes lit up at the smiling Doctor in front of her and she seemed pleasantly surprised. 'Really? Well I hope it was painless.'

'Pain free.' Rodney smiled.

'Relatively.' Chase said through clenched teeth. Elizabeth grinned.

'How are you feeling? I know Carson said that the radiation you received wasn't life threatening but, still, I worry. Neither of you looked well when you first arrived.' She stated with folded arms.

'Well? We were exposed to massive amounts of lethal radiation as well as an army of man-eating wolves – we escaped the clutches of death with only three seconds to spare.' Rodney said incredulously.

'A whole three seconds, lucky you.' Elizabeth joked. 'Coming to my next point.' She turned to Chase. 'I think I owe you an apology.'

'For what?' Chase said uncertainly.

'Yes, for what?' Rodney echoed with a little more attitude.

'Your first week in Atlantis and you get torn to shreds, chased, almost eaten and practically blown up….' Elizabeth paused, not knowing what else to say. Chase smiled. 'Not exactly the best welcome.'

'Well, at least I can say my job is not without excitement.' Chase grinned.

'And not without escaping near death incidents everyday with ravishingly handsome scientists.' Rodney added arrogantly.

'Right, well, I'm gonna go and uh…be elsewhere.' Chase said brightly, nodding her respects and leaving the lab. Elizabeth turned to a confused Rodney and smiled.

'She's very busy.' Elizabeth explained.

'Oh.' Rodney paused and then turned back to his computer. Elizabeth waited.

'So…how are you?' She asked.

'Fine, why?' He asked suspiciously.

'No reason.' She shrugged. 'It's only that recent events may have opened up some old wounds, and you could be feeling-'

'Annoyed that you bring it up, yeah.' Rodney snapped. 'It wasn't my fault this time, I know that it is remarkably similar and that your immediate thought is that McKay screwed up again, but that just isn't the case.'

'I know.' Elizabeth nodded. Rodney faltered. 'In fact everyone on that mission made a point to tell me that it wasn't your fault.' Rodney seemed slightly surprised.

'They did?'

Elizabeth nodded. 'I only came here to make sure that you knew it too.'

Rodney avoided eye contact. 'Oh, well, I knew that, actually.' He pointed out.

Elizabeth smiled slightly and nodded. 'Okay.' She turned to the door.

'Elizabeth.'

Weir turned and saw Rodney looking marginally uncomfortable. 'Thanks.' He smiled weakly. Elizabeth nodded and continued on her way.

Chase had needed to be on her way because she had somewhere to be. Somewhere that was not going to be crawling in evil alien dogs and somewhere that wasn't going to explode on her. She was deep in thought as she walked along the corridors, the day moving on slowly.

Ronan spotted the lovely figure with her head bowed to read an Ancient Pad. She wore jeans and a strappy red top under a brown jacket with large boots and a black bag at her side. He grinned and made a path for her.

'Hey! Chris!' Major Lorne jogged down the hall to a halt in front of Christina and Ronan paused. She looked up and smiled warmly.

'Major Lorne.' She greeted.

'Listen, rumour is that you're an impressive rock climber. I think I'd like to test those wonderful skills against my own.' He smiled confidently. Chase frowned.

'You climb?' She asked, slightly impressed.

'Mh mh, I climb.' He nodded his head. 'I climb very well.'

'A challenge…interesting. And where would you suggest we go? I should think the main tower would be quite unsuitable.' She grinned.

'Doctor Weir has given me permission to head to P4X-447. There are some awesome cliffs along the beach that could challenge the empire state building. What do you think?' He asked hopefully. Chase smiled apologetically. Sheppard arrived with a frown, only just hearing the end of the proposition.

'It's a wonderful thought Lorne, but I already have plans.' She looked truly sorry for saying it and Lorne nodded, slightly disappointed. 'I'd love to take you up on it some time later.' John who had been watching from the other side shook his head with a grin and was about to step forward when Ronan appeared.

'What about sparring?' He asked with a slight grin.

Chase laughed. 'Yes, have my ass kicked by a massive Satedan all afternoon. I'm just not sure that's what Elizabeth meant by – relax.' She gave him a cheery look and began walking backwards. John, leaning against the wall, and was about to speak up when Rodney wandered into the hall with his head in some papers before looking up and spotting Chase.

'Oh, there you are, I was coming to look for you. I just got some results in from the holographic device they found on, uh, what was it, P3X – 876? I think you'll find the results quite interesting, I uh, have some coffee, back in my office if you want to…?' He grinned.

'It's her afternoon off Rodney; give the work a rest for once.' John told him. Ronan and Lorne had only just become aware of his presence as had Chase. Rodney scowled.

'And I suppose you have a better idea?' He asked sourly.

'You could have dinner with me.' John suggested brightly, watching Chase grin. 'I hear Chef's cooking some new Athosian dish – should be interesting.' He smiled lopsidedly, charm emanating from him in waves.

Chris, who was still walking back, looked at the four men and smiled. 'I'm not sure I'll be here for dinner, I'd have to ask.'

They frowned and glanced at each other.

'You ready to go?'

They watched as Carson came around the corner with a large bag and some fishing rods over his shoulder. He made for Chris with a large smile, his blue eyes twinkling with excitement. He put a hand on her arm and turned to see the four of them giving him mingled looks of surprise and loathing.

'Oh, hello.' He said brightly.

'Carson's taking me fishing.' Chris said simply, grinning at the Scot.

'Aye, looks like I finally found myself a fishing partner.' He paused. 'Shall we go?'

Chris nodded enthusiastically and offered to take the rods. Carson shook his head insisting that he could carry them. Chris looked back at the four as they walked away and waved with a large smile. Carson allowed her to go ahead slightly before turning back with a mischievous grin.

'Hard luck lads.' He called lightly, and turned to follow Chase.

They scowled at his back – hard. Rodney spluttered.

'_Fishing?_ Fishing.' He said loudly. 'My offer was way better than that!'

'Yeah, because work is so exciting.' Lorne said sarcastically.

'To scientists it is, and she and I are scientists, something we have in common-' Rodney reminded him snootily.

'So?' Ronan said with dark eyes.

'So there is a connection, one you could not possibly understand, oh ignorant one.' Rodney watched Ronan creep toward him and stuck his chin out defiantly as he backed up.

'Oh please, she was not interested in working on her afternoon off.' John walked forward, unfolding his arms. 'At least mine had some class.' He said tentatively.

'Mine got a "later" offer.' Lorne chimed, looking rather pleased with himself.

'Uh, did ya not see you get blown off for fishing? I mean rock climbing is active and all – ' John began.

'Rock climbing?' Rodney said incredulously. 'You wanted to take her rock climbing…why?' He said, as though it had to be the stupidest thing in the world.

'Because both of us happen to do it, Mckay…you could say we have a connection. You see, rock climbing is exciting to rock climbers, and she and I are rock climbers, something we have in common…' Lorne echoed masterfully.

'Oh, yeah right!' Rodney scoffed, turning to Ronan. 'And what did you want to do with her?'

'He wanted to spar with her.' John said quietly, giving the Satedan a side glance with slight disgust.

'Better than coffee.' Ronan stated.

'Is not.' Rodney snapped.

'Better than dinner.' Lorne said confidently.

'It is not, you get to talking over dinner-' John said defensively.

'Yeah! And sparring you get to hit each other, rock climbing you get to fall to your deaths together – how romantic…' Rodney folded his arms.

The four walked toward each other, adamantly believing each of their offers were better than the other. The noise of their criticisms and complaints roared throughout the hall drawing attention from various personnel. Elizabeth and Teyla walked around the corner, looking for the source of the noise. The two frowned at each other before jogging over.

'Colonel!' Elizabeth called over the din. They did not respond to her presence. 'Colonel!' She shouted. They turned to her, Rodney the only one to finish his sentence.

'…ridiculous that you would even consider…!'

'Rodney!' Elizabeth said firmly. He turned to her with an irritated look before realising who she was and tensing.

'Elizabeth.' He stated.

'What is going on?' She asked.

The four of them mumbled something, avoiding eye contact and touching the back of their heads or playing with their hands.

'I want answers.' She said harshly. Teyla watched with a steely eye. 'Colonel?'

John groaned giving her an agitated look. Sometimes, being the superior officer sucked. 'Well, we were just talking about what we were doing with our afternoons off.' He said slowly.

'Talking?' Teyla echoed doubtfully.

'Yes.' Rodney said waspishly. 'Except all our plans got shot to hell.'

'Well what on Earth were you planning to do?' She asked with a frown.

Mutters and grumbles ensued. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Teyla looked unimpressed.

'They were all planning their afternoons around Doctor Chase, but I believe that Carson beat them to it.' She said mercilessly

'Didn't beat us to it, he got lucky.' Rodney stated. Lorne, Ronan and John shook their heads, disgusted that he had admitted it. John gave Teyla a bitter look at her blunt explanation.

'Thanks for not holding back, our egos all feel much better now.' He said sarcastically.

'You're all sulking that Carson got the girl?' Elizabeth said incredulously. Then she smiled. 'Good.'

They gaped.

'Good?' John echoed.

'What's so good about it?' Rodney said bitterly.

'It teaches you all a lesson.' She stated positively.

'What lesson would that be, ma'am?' Lorne asked, arms folded.

'To be a man and ask the woman first.' Teyla said with a knowing eye.

Rodney just stared, crestfallen. 'That's just harsh.'

'No kidding.' John stated, the same look of defeat on his face.

'Well on that low note, I think I'll go rock climbing anyway.' Lorne sighed and left the group. Ronan paused, grinning at Teyla before following Lorne.

'What is rock climbing?'

'It's pretty simple actually – you climb rocks.' The Major explained.

The group watched them go and then paused. Rodney gave in first and slumped. 'I have work.' He was about to leave when Elizabeth caught his arm.

'And Chef has an Athosian delicacy for lunch.' She steered him down the hall. Rodney seemed to brighten at the prospect of food.

John and Teyla lingered. 'Colonel? Would you like to sample my people's food?' She asked.

'Sure, why not.' He said, and fell into step beside her.

Just ahead, he heard Rodney suddenly complain loudly.

'I mean, who wants to go fishing instead of discovering the intricate formula to an unknown element which could lead to a brilliant reveal on cold fusion and change the very laws of physics. Huh? Tell me that!'

John shook his head. 'Me.' He muttered.

The group turned the corner into the lunch hall and John felt a pull on his arm. He turned to see Chris smiling up at him. He frowned.

'Why aren't you fishing?' He asked.

'Oh, I'm going, I just wanted to…' She paused, looking uncomfortable. John looked over his shoulder and saw the group suddenly turn away, talking or fiddling with something. He shook his head.

'Wanted to…?' He prodded, his eyes uncertain, but hopeful.

'Well, according to Carson, we should be back for dinner…if I could still take you up on your offer?' She asked, green eyes watching him. John grinned and then quickly hid it under a look of vague interest.

'I think I'm free.' He smiled. Chase grinned widely and walked backward.

'Great.' She said cheerfully, she turned to go.

'It's not really the shirt that makes you swoon, right?' He called.

Chase turned, thinking it over. 'It could be the manly torso or the unrelenting charm but then…I really do like cotton.' She grinned, raised her eyebrows and left John to his own massive, boyish grin. _Knew it…_

He turned, lost in his own thoughts and stopped. Teyla and Elizabeth both smiled at each other with knowing looks whilst Rodney had his arms folded with a bitter expression. He sighed.

'Figures it would be Colonel Hair Gel that would get the girl.' He drawled.

_Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought, I'd love to hear what you think. This one was different for me because it was more character based; please let me know if it worked. Cheers!_


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